t h e l i f e l e s s l e e c h
by C A L A M I T Y xxx
Summary: Second OC fanfic. Rexa: a Nobody torn from chaos, clueless and helpless, was the original number 13. See how she goes through the roles from a lost shell, to a full-fledged Nobody, to a traitor beyond traitor, to a legend that would scar a heart for life.
1. PROLOGUE: Martial Waking

_**~Prologue~**_

And she woke up without warning. She had no idea where she came from. It was just out of nowhere that she had awoken from a possible sleep maybe even a rebirth, inside an unusual looking town. It was around nighttime the way she saw it, and most of the buildings had very luminescent lights flashing from around them. Something about the air she was breathing, her surroundings, her figure, and most of her senses, felt very familiar. Why couldn't she remember it? Her hair was blonde, reaching down to her mid-back, which a few red and black streaks. Her eyes were sharp green and her skin was slightly tan. Something about the way she looked flashed back at her. Something happened before she found herself in the city. Something _terrible_. She wore nothing more than a black plain tube top, white and black plaid mini skirt, black leather wedged boots that went up to her knees, and a necklace. The end of the necklace had a heart charm dangling from it. She held her hand out in front of her, showing a sterling silver ring around her middle finger, and it made her wonder if it meant anything special. She rethought a few things to herself; She might have been just a regular city girl that might have blacked out momentarily, or maybe she had gotten amnesia. There were many possibilities to a situation as such, but for some reason she felt...uncomfortable, making it feel necessary for her to over think things. She was in a sitting position in what looked like a dark alley though, despite that she could tell that there could be a whole town waiting for her if she stepped out of the blackened hall, and was also surrounded entirely of broken glass and trash. She also realized something else. She felt her worry increase by a bit in each second passing, yet she didn't feel her heart beat speeding up in any way. In fact, she put her hand to her chest in curiosity, and didn't feel a heart beat at all. She thought it had to be a dream, even though she felt as though she just woke up from a very long lasting dream. This was all too weird for her, and so she decided to investigate a little of the town. Stepping out of the alley, the light had shown a little more clearly, and suited nicely with the night sky. For some reason she felt as though she had more than five senses, and she felt a little more fresh than usual, if there ever was a 'usual'. Not many people were around, just a couple of people standing around a stairway and near the entrance of a bar which didn't look too appealing. There was also a little...creature that was pacing around the tiled ground. It was small; kind of sand colored, and had a big red nose and purple wings on its back. A big red pompom hung from its head, twirling around from each little step it took; but what the hell was it?

She had started walking towards the stairway slowly, and it wasn't too long before she realized that she was being...stared at. She turned around curiously to see if anyone was looking at her, for a brief glance or a rude stare, but everyone was doing his or her business, and the little white thing was still pacing back and forth. One of her thin eyebrows raised and the other sunk as she looked in the other available directions. Nobody was around that seemed to increase the suspense. She thought that she was just nervous being around a town she's never been in before, but as she continued up the stairs and pass an accessory shop, her tension rose a little higher, and continued to look around cautiously as she roamed around. So much was going on, but it felt so empty to her, but it was almost as though someone unseen was watching her, and she's only been in the town for a minute or two; at least that's what she thought. She reached a point where she was in front of two giant doors, figuring that they led to somewhere else other than the town, and she hoped there wouldn't be a lot of people around the next area. She walked up closer by two steps and put her hands on the metal bar frame.

"If you don't want to put yourself in any more harm, I suggest you don't move any further."

The voice was dark and cold, and it made a few shivers go through her spine. She turned around, despite that she was a little bit afraid to do so, to see who was talking to her. Unfortunately, she didn't see the exact face, but just a whole figure entirely cloaked in a long black jacket. She couldn't see his face, since his hood was up, shadowing anything underneath it, but she did see two long thick strands of silver hair hang out of the hood. The whole figure was slightly tall and built too. She wanted to know who he was, since she didn't see him lurking around before, but she was too startled to say anything.

"...Poor girl. Lost physically and mentally. It pains me to see a new Nobody that is clueless in thought."

'Nobody' seemed like an insult to her, but if she was nobody, then why did he sound so curious about her. She could only shift her leg close to her other as the hooded figure walked a little closer to her.

"You're not speaking at all. Are you that frightened of me? Of this world? I'm only here to bring you home."

At that, she blinked a little, and she realized that she did have a voice after all. "...Home?"

The hooded figure chuckled a little at her question. "Yes. I understand your high tension, and the fact that you...have no heart. It's dangerous for a newborn to walk around a place he or she doesn't know so carelessly."

She placed her hand on her chest, realizing that as crazy as he sounded, it seemed true that she had no heart. She felt no beat or pulse on the surface of her chest, but then it confused her even more. Without a heart, wouldn't she be dead?

"But tell me, girl. Do you remember your past at all? Do you remember your family, your home? What about your name?"

All of the questions seemed to depress her a little, since she really didn't know where she came from, let alone anything before she found herself in this town. "I...don't know."

"Nothing at all?"

"...No." She said. Her head lowered since she felt weighed down from so much that she couldn't think of, or remember. The figure was then in front of her, and she looked up to see if she could find any more features about him. She could only see a little bit of his skin color, something very dark, but his eyes were golden and extremely sharp as they looked down at her.

"Your hope is not lost, I will tell you that." His eyes rolled a little to the side. "But you're not trained enough to wonder alone, which is why I'm taking you to our headquarters with the rest of our kind."

"Our kind?" She repeated in question. For some reason when he said that at first, she found it necessary to glance at the unknown little creature she passed a moment ago, but that was out of the question. "Who...and what are you?"

"Your leader." He replied. He then reached up, pulling his hood back off of his head, and shown his face to her. His skin was brown and most of his hair was slightly spiked, long, and silver. His eyes seemed to stick out the most to her. "And it's about time that you realize who you are...Rexa."

"Rexa...that's not my name...it's...-" But despite that what he called her seemed incorrect, she didn't even know if he was right or not. She stopped mid-sentence, thinking he mistaken her for someone else, but that was it. Everything else he described seemed a little too reasonable. "...Is it? Is that really my name?"

He didn't respond, but from the look of the way that his lips curled upward and his white teeth shown, she immediately had a feeling that he was not lying to her. His gloved hand reached out towards her, and it was the first time he's gotten close to her without her bumping more into the door behind her. The metal frame nudged her hip a little, leaving her nowhere else to back up anymore.

"Don't be afraid of me, now. I mean no harm." The man said, his voice sounding innocent. "Don't you want to know what happened before you woke up here?"

"I do...but-"

"If we stay here for too long, they'll become impatient."

"Who are they?"

"Your brethren." He said. The hand he held out had grabbed her wrist with an inhumane tightness to it. She cringed a little, finding it so hard to believe that this guy knew her, but she didn't know him. Before she knew it, a large pack of shadows swirled around them, the thick aura of it all nearly gagging her, and then they were gone, feeling as if there was just a black out. When she managed to have the nerve to open her eyes, after tightly shutting them from being scared of what could happen next, she saw nothing; not even the mysterious man was with her. There was a bit of pressure beneath her feet, so she was standing on some sort of surface and was glad that she wasn't falling or floating.

"Hey...? Where did you take me?!" She asked out loudly. It wasn't long before she was starting to hear voices that she had never heard before.

_She's number 13? _

_She looks so weak...for a nobody._

_Have you discovered her powers yet? _

_Poor girl...looking helplessly lost and fragile. Funny she looks completely mundane._

_Xemnas, is she prepared for the worst? _

_...__**Indeed**__._

Rexa, convinced that it was her name now, cupped her hands over her ears, trying to block the loud voices out of her reach; but to her surprise, they were inside her head, and covering her ears nor closing her eyes again didn't make anything feel better.

"Oh my god..." She said, not sure if she was talking to herself or whoever was talking in her head. "Shut the fuck UP!" She shouted. A flash had closed up everything else. After two or three seconds, she was somewhere else, yet in the same pose that she was in before. It looked like a large room, a white and silver toned room, yet no one was in it. It looked like a giant hallway though, almost as if you could hold a wedding there. "Now where am I?" Rexa asked herself. The same silk shadowed portal appeared next to her, and then the man that found her.

"You are in Castle Oblivion...where most of our Organization members are right now." He replied. "You will have to get to know your comrades before seeing the others where I stay at."

"Then...who will guide me here if you're leaving?" Rexa questioned. To answer her question partly, another shadow vortex appeared not too far in front of her, and another hooded figure stood to look at her.

"Leave that to me, Rexa." The hooded man then said. Rexa caught the other man smirking a little, but then he turned around, as if he were just departing.

"Wait-" Rexa said. He turned around to look at her once more. "What is...I don't know your name."

"Xemnas." He said, smiling a little more. He turned around again to look at the other man, who apparently removed his hood while they weren't looking. This man seemed to have caught Rexa's attention more than Xemnas. His hair was slightly red and pink at the same time...Rexa couldn't recall what color that was called. His face was slim and he had very sharp blue eyes. He was..._attractive _to her. "Marluxia, I trust that you will be able to guide her until she feels comfortable going around on her own?"

"Yes, my lord." The other man said, Marluxia apparently his name. Rexa felt Xemnas's gaze wander back to her, so she stared back.

"Marluxia is the lord of this castle. If there is anything you need to know, or do, he will be around."

Rexa just nodded. Everything happened so quickly, and it nearly frightened her. Xemnas then vanished behind the two other individuals, leaving them alone. Once he was gone, Rexa noticed that Marluxia gave her a long gaze, the source of lust in his eyes.

"Another...female." Marluxia mumbled, though Rexa could read his lips. She was at least glad that she wasn't the only girl. "That's an interesting attire you have on." Marluxia then told her. The way she was dressed was the least of her worries.

"Thank you...I guess." Rexa replied uneasily.

"But as one of the Organization members, I will tell you that we do have a dress code." He smirked from Rexa's glance elsewhere. She noticed that both Xemnas and Marluxia were wearing the same black coat, and wondered if the others were going to look the same...and if she were have to dress that way too.

"I noticed."

"I will bring you your required garments. Also in the meantime, three of our members are on the next floor downstairs. You may meet with them until I come back." Rexa peeked at the direction where he pointed. He was pointing at a darkened area with stairs going down. It was the only not-so-bright catch in the hall. Marluxia's eyes lit a little as he lifted his finger as if to point out something else. "Oh, another thing. Sometimes it will take time to get to know the others here, and discuss whatever you feel with them." A smirk formed across his lips. "And...try not to get in trouble." Those were his last words before he vanished into the shadow vortex. She wondered if she knew how to do the same thing. They could teleport, yet so far the only thing she knew how to do mobile was walk. The stairs weren't too far anyhow, so she did what Marluxia told her and went down the stairs to meet with the 'others'. She noticed that when she looked down the stairs, there was nothing but pitch black at the bottom, but she wasn't afraid of the darkness and never has been; that's what she thought at least. There was a loud clack/clomp sound as her wedges tapped the stairs with each step. She managed to walk down through the black area while holding on to a railing, yet noticed that the farther she went down, the lighter the path gotten. She's only been in one room in this whole castle, and she already thought it was hella creepy. One of the voices in her head back in the shadows seemed to have a point though, she did still seem and act human. But how did a complete nobody act? She didn't want to find out immediately. The stairs were quite long, and she began to hear soft voices by the time she was almost to the other room. Sounded like another man...two of them, but Marluxia said that there'd be three members in the next room, so she was mishearing someone. Her head was down watching her steps as she walked down the final stair steps, and once she was on a flat surface again, she looked up, and her eyes slightly dilated. The sound of her boot pressing against the floor echoed quietly through the room, alarming the other three figures, immediately making them turn around. At first, the they looked at Rexa startled her, but then she realized that they couldn't hurt her...could they?

"Who's that?" A girl's voice asked. So Marluxia was right when he stated that there was 'another woman'. Only when she saw this 'woman', she was hoping that she wouldn't have any trouble. The girl in the room was just about as blonde as she was, and her hair was short yet passed her chin. Two unusual bangs floated behind her head, which caught Rexa's attention the most. Her eyebrows did the wave as she got a long glimpse of Rexa. "What do we have here?"

The two other men were also eye catching. One of them looked at her with question but with shear amusement at the same time. His hair was partly similar to a lion's mane. His hair was beat red and completely spiked. His eyes were as green as Rexa's perfect view of a lawn of grass, and unlike the other girl's reaction, he seemed pleased to see her. "I think I know."

_Haha, no you don't._ Rexa thought to herself, and then she glanced at the other man, who so far was the only normal looking nobody that she's met so far; but that could change at any time. He looked a little aged, but not too old to talk to. He had a dirty blonde mullet and a very slim face while his eyes were also green. He looked at her with a blank face, not seeming pleased or unpleased, she only stared back at all three of them, scratching the back of her head.

"I'm the new girl you all must have heard about." Rexa then said.

"Aah, I see." The other girl said with a teasing smile. "So Xemnas caught you wandering in scraps, huh?"

"I guess." Rexa replied. "I didn't know where I was at when he came."

The red-spiked haired man crossed his arms. "Marluxia thinks that Xemnas found you in Traverse Town, a town where people lost their homes to the Heartless."

"The...Heartless?" Rexa questioned.

"And..." The other man begun. He sounded like one of those rare intelligent scientists. "It's obvious to the fact that you're here that you've lost more than your home." A strange smirk formed across his face.

"So I hear..." Rexa replied. She noticed that the other blonde was walking towards her, and laid her hand on one of Rexa's shoulders when she was neck-and-neck to her.

"So, enough blabbering _new girl_. Tell us your name."

"I didn't know for a while, but Xemnas called me Rexa...so I suppose that's my name." Rexa replied. She saw the old man glance over at the other male.

_"What do you suppose her real name is?"_ He whispered over. The girl's eyes widened a little as if she heard something shocking from behind.

_"You dunce...! She's a newborn. If she were to know that...'Rexa's not her real name, she'll totally think that the Superior lied to her." _

"Something wrong?" Rexa asked. The redhead unraveled his arms.

"Of course not, _Rexa_. By the way, my name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

"Um, yeah sure." She replied, one of her eyebrows raised a little from his last question. "And you two are..." She asked then to the other two strangers. The girl turned around and smiled.

"I'm Larxene...and that is Vexen over there. So then, what do you think of this castle so far?"

"I think it's...lovely." Rexa replied.

"Glad to hear it." Axel said. His eyes averted up and down Rexa's figure; as if every man she's met so far hasn't yet. "Rexa, is Marluxia honestly going to let you join the Organization looking like that?"

"No, he's picking up garments for me right now." Rexa replied.

"It's cute." Larxene said, staring at every part of Rexa but her face. "But like he said, we can't show our identities looking like, well no offense, but...a skank." Rexa's eyebrow raised once more at the term Larxene referred to her as, and she seemed to noticed her confused expression, so she measured her lips to Rexa's ear. _"You know. The uber mini skirt AND a tube. In that you'll get too much attention, if you know what I mean." _Larxene nodded twice to her left to point out Axel and Vexen looking around apathetically, and Rexa considered her warning. Larxene backed up a little so she'd be back in level with the other two men. "Well then, Rexa, do you remember anything about what happened before you woke up in a trash dump?"

She made her answer short, since she hated trying to think more about it. "No...I don't."

"Nothing at all?" Vexen asked with curiosity.

"Nope." Rexa replied. Vexen continued gazing at her as if he were studying her, his fingers to his small chin. His hand then lowered and he blinked and frowned as if he couldn't find anything out about her.

"Then...we will have to research through your memory, and find out what happened before then." Rexa didn't even know if that was possible, but thinking about what she went through before, she then though anything is possible. "And...possibly more." Vexen finished.

"Possibly _more_?" Axel questioned.

"Rexa's just a newborn. She doesn't know anything about herself or what happened before her wakeup, so we'll have to find out for her."

"Can you really do that?" Rexa questioned.

"Of course. I am a scientist." Vexen explained.

"Then...I'd rather you not do so." Rexa replied, eyes lingering to a blank wall.

"Aww, you're not shy, are you?" Larxene asked, sounding as bright yet sarcastic as always.

"No. I just don't like the sound of a man...researching me. I'm not in a book, so the only possible way to do that would be to take off my clothes, roam around me internally, and..._'possibly more'_." Rexa explained, that was at least her prediction. Vexen, however, cackled a bit, and she could have sworn she heard the other two chuckling a bit too.

"I can assure you, Rexa, that's not my intention. I have my own special way of experimenting."

"And when you put it that way, I still wouldn't want you to." Rexa replied, still looking at the wall.

"I will have to." Vexen said. "If you want to learn anything more about yourself, your home, your past, and more importantly, your past being."

"I really don't feel comfortable about this." Rexa replied, looking back at Vexen, who looked determined himself to get his hands on her somehow.

_"It is alright, Rexa." _A familiar voice called out. The three other nobodies were looking past Rexa, so she turned around to find the black hole forming around dramatically, Marluxia soon showing himself.

"Marluxia..." Rexa said quietly. "How much have you heard."

"Nothing unworthy of hearing." He replied. "But Vexen is right, Rexa. We will have to go through your memories in order for you to know who you really are."

"But...I don't remember anything. How can I have memories if I don't remember the things that I'm supposed to remember?" Rexa asked anxiously. Marluxia reached a hand out over the end side of her head, and slowly began to move it to the other side.

"Everyone has memories, even when they are unaware of it." Marluxia replied. Rexa noticed that as his hand moved above her, pink luminescent flower petals had fell around her, and then after a moment, they began to swarm around her like a typhoon, and something felt very strange, but relaxing at the same time. Marluxia, after a few seconds, quickly brought his hand back, and the petals vanished. When Rexa looked at herself, she found herself in the exact same black coat as everyone else in the room. She heard herself gasp a little when she peaked inside of the jacket, and she wore only a black strapless bra underneath at her upper torso. She did, however, notice that she wore either extremely tight black pants or black leggings with black leather knee-high boots coming up over them. She felt like a clone, but she did think she looked good. She glanced over at the others, seeing that they were smirking at her.

"Ah, now isn't that better?" Larxene asked. "Being part of the Organization doesn't cost a lot."

"Now...Rexa, you have three more people to meet in this castle." Marluxia then said.

"Oh, okay." Rexa replied. Marluxia glanced over at Vexen.

"Vexen. You seem close to the other two members in this castle. Why don't you guide Rexa down to meet them?"

"Fine by me." Vexen said, smirking.

"Wait...you said that I had three people to meet. If there are only two more members to meet, then who's the third person?" Rexa questioned.

"I will meet up with you later to take you to her." Marluxia replied. So there were only three girls in this whole castle. She wondered if it was the same number for the whole organization, if it were any bigger than this. Xemnas did tell her that she wouldn't be able to meet the other members until she was prepared enough to go on her own. Rexa wondered if that would be a long way to go.

"Come with me, Rexa." Vexen then said, using a finger to tell her to walk where he stood. She glanced over to Marluxia, who nodded her to go ahead, and then she stepped next to Vexen. His gloved hand closed around hers tightly as he smirked lightly. _Shit, he feels cold._ Rexa thought to herself. It was very unusual for a person to feel like an ice cube, especially since it felt just fine inside the room. Just like how Xemnas brought her to the castle, a shadow warped around the two of them, soon taking them to another place. Larxene looked over at Marluxia, who's eyes were partly closed.

"She's a newborn right? She will have a long series of tests coming up." She teased. Opening his eyes slowly, Marluxia began to smile.

"It won't take long."

* * *

All went black for a moment, but then Rexa could see that the shadow swirls were opening again, and later on only a little bit of light, so she knew that she was now in a different room. The swirls disappeared and she was in a room that looked exactly the same as the previous room, only it was very dark. _Why is it so dark in here?_ She thought. When she glanced behind herself, she saw that Vexen was right behind her, only apart by an inch, and then she looked in front of her to see two other guys around the middle of the room, yet they didn't seem to noticed when Rexa and Vexen came in; but Vexen took the honor in alarming them.

"Lexaeus, Zexion...we have someone special for you to meet." Vexen said sharply. Both men turned around curiously to see someone they didn't know in the room.

"Vexen...this is...-" The young man with short gray platinum hair started. He stopped mid sentence when Vexen nodded.

"This is the new girl we've been expecting. Right, Rexa?"

"Yes." Rexa replied. She looked behind herself to see that Vexen was looking down at her with a very frightening grin; at least she thought it was frightening. The other members could be used to him by now. She noticed that the other man, who was extremely muscular and built and seemed a little tall, was looking at her curiously with his hand to his chin, and then he scoffed.

"She doesn't seem like Larxene, thank god." The built man said, apparently judging already.

"Does she know about...the Keyblade wielder yet?" The smaller man asked.

"Not yet." Vexen said. "She will learn about them eventually. She has not been trained properly yet to get in combat with them."

"Excuse me, Vexen." Rexa interrupted. She pointed out the two strangers. "But who's who?"

"Pardon me." Vexen replied. He used his hand as a pointer, gesturing it towards the gray haired nobody. "This is Zexion." He then pointed to the muscular one. "And this is Lexaeus."

"Oh, okay." Rexa replied. "Hello to you both." At least it seemed normal in this room. For some reason, being alone with Axel, Larxene, AND Vexen didn't feel right. "So...you said something about a keyblade wielder? Who, or what, is that?"

She noticed that the three other men glanced at each other for a second; Vexen had a face of deviant, Lexaeus and Zexian looking uneasy. But then they all nodded in agreement as if they planned something in their thoughts.

"You'll have to wait until all of the members inside Castle Oblivion join together. Then we'll be able to discuss him...and his friend." Zexion explained. Rexa only nodded, not needing a reminder that she had a lot of learning to do before then. "Rexa, have you discovered your power yet?"

"Huh? What power?" Rexa replied and blinked. Zexion looked over behind her at Vexen.

"No one told her yet?"

"We won't be able to learn anything about her until we do research on her." Vexen replied. "But...Rexa doesn't seem very ecstatic about it."

"I really don't want anything to do with this research you all keep bringing up." Rexa replied, looking over at her side once again.

"It's harmless." Lexaeus stated. "We've all gone through it. Its simple, and not as bad as it sounds."

"Bullshit." Rexa replied.

"I'll have to warn you." Zexion said then, peeking through his long bangs. "Marluxia has a way of making refusing newborns cooperate during the experiment."

Rexa didn't reply. Infact, she forgot all about Marluxia ever since she arrived in the room. She ran forward a little only to stand in the middle in the room.

"Wait...where is he? I forgot I had to meet him again soon."

"He's...probably in Namine's right now." Zexion replied, not sounding so sure of himself.

"Who's Namine?"

"The 'special person' you were supposed to meet after us." Vexen replied.

"Well, I don't know how far that is from here. I'm guessing this castle is huge, from seeing you all teleporting from place to place all of the time."

"Rexa." Zexion started, a little interest seemed to be in his eyes. "You don't know how to teleport yet?"

"Normally, it'd be something you have to learn on your own." Lexaeus said then. Rexa noticed a smirk on Vexen's face as he looked over to where the other two Nobodies stood.

"Rexa, you'll realize soon that you will learn your abilities as time goes by. In the meantime, it is a good idea for you to look for Marluxia right now." Vexen said, pointing at the stairs.

"Uhm..." Rexa replied, staring at the staircase for a while. "Thank you. I'll go look for him now." At this point, she began to walk towards the stairs until she was completely out of the three men's sight.

"Poor girl. Her scent is slightly faded, yet it has a very sweet aura." Zexion mumbled.

"I wonder if she'll end up becoming Marluxia's little slave also." Vexen asked. He scowled quietly as he continued to stare up the staircase as the sound of clacking boots faded a little from each step taken.

"Vexen, you're not going to try and-" Zexion was cut off, yet he could see what Vexen was thinking just by examining his posture.

"Of course I am." Vexen replied. He turned around, his expression then blank. "Marluxia cannot try and convince her to conspire with him. We have enough traitors and frauds in this Organization as it is. I cannot stand another."

"So...a new plan then, Vexen?" The built nobody asked slyly.

"Yes." Vexen said. A wide smirk shown on his face. "As soon as she meets Namine, the experiment will commence."

* * *

This would be exactly how Rexa would picture a castle, but not with every single room and hall looking the same way. The next room she was taken to by Marluxia was a little smaller and seemingly different than the rest. There was a what looked like a giant orb on a stand in the middle of the room, and it seemed lighter than the rest of the rooms. In one of the corners of the room, there was a white chair, and sitting in it was a little girl. She seemed to not have noticed when Rexa and Marluxia arrived inside the room, probably because she was in the midst of drawing something. She had a sketchbook in her lap, and Rexa could see the strokes and different waves she was doing with her pencils. A hand prodded itself on Rexa's shoulder, along with a sudden sweet smell passing by her nose, telling her that Marluxia was about to introduce her to the 'special person'.

"This is Namine." He said. The sudden voice echoing in the room made the girl, Namine, raise her head slowly to stare glumly at the two. Only she gave a small gasp of surprise once she saw Rexa, a Nobody she's never seen before. She hung her head back down, staring at her doodle, before she lowered her pencil on her lap with the sketchbook. Rexa thought she seemed kind of gloomy to meet her.

"Why the long face?" Rexa asked curiously at her. Namine wore a white dress that matched with the rest of the room, and her hair was as blonde as her eyes were a deep blue color. Rexa hoped that she wouldn't see another female that looked like herself.

"It's...nothing." The silent girl replied. Marluxia walked forward next to Namine as he towered over her. He stroked her hair lightly while staring back at Rexa.

"Namine...is actually a special kind of witch with an amazing ability." The rose haired Nobody said. "She can rearrange, scramble, and even create new memories. Even ones that never happened." He lowered himself to where his head was leveled with the witch's. "Now don't fret, Namine. Rexa's a new girl, so as much as you don't know her, you don't have to fear her...yet."

"Yet?" Rexa questioned.

"She's been alone in this castle for so long now. She doesn't really trust anyone here except for the hero she longs for."

"Her hero, huh? Who is it?"

"You will find out soon." Marluxia replied. He stood up and walked back over to where Rexa was standing. "But in the meantime, we have something very important to accomplish." He turned back to Namine, who was watching them a little longer than before, and reached out his hand and bent back his fingers to tell her to come forward. Namine slowly set aside her sketchpad and walked towards the two Nobodies.

"What's this about?" Rexa asked. Right when the question was asked, multiple shadow holes appeared, some later or earlier than others, but as soon as they vanished, the trio was surrounded by all of the other Organization members in castle oblivion. She instantly knew something serious was about to happen, and most likely something she wouldn't enjoy.

"Its about time, we found out what has happened to you in the past." Marluxia said, staring deep in her eyes.

"Rexa seems a little...different than the rest of us Nobodies. This does perk my curiosity." Vexen said, staring straight ahead of the three subjects in the middle of the room.

"Well, she is the new girl. Who wouldn't be curious about someone that's new?" Larxene said, sneering at Vexen.

"She knows how to shut her trap when necessary, that's all I know." Vexen snapped back. Larxene rolled her eyes up to the ceiling, then back to the middle of the room.

"Now, Rexa. This is going to be good for you. If I were you, I'd want to find out more about myself before anyone else." Axel then said, his arms crossed and a coy expression on his face.

"Zexion. Try not to detect anything about her until _after _the experiment." Lexaeus whispered to the gray haired young man.

"Her aura...is strong. But I will resist." Zexion replied.

"Marluxia, I don't know about-" Rexa started. Marluxia gracefully laid a gloved finger on her hand to quiet her, but apparently that wasn't the only intention.

"If there is no other way to make this easier for you..." He replied. The hand had glow a pink color- and after a second, so did Rexa. She suddenly felt very fatigued and her vision blurred a little as she saw a few petals fly around his fingers towards her face. In an instant, she passed out -falling forward- and Marluxia instantly caught her by the waist. He smirked lightly from the sudden peace of mind in the unconscious girl.

"Whoa, Marluxia, what did you do to her?" Larxene asked with peak interest.

"Don't worry. She is only in a siesta." Marluxia replied. He slowly lowered Rexa down so that she would be laying on the floor, since there was no where else to let her lay comfortably, and then he knelt down beside her but looked up at the smaller female. "Namine, you know what to do."

Namine only nodded, not looking any different in mood than she was before, and she knelt down to where she was next to Rexa's head, placing her hands above her forehead. Then a light flashed from her hands through Rexa's head, making some of the other Nobodies lean forward for a closer look. Marluxia noticed how stiff they were, and urged them closer.

"Come here." He said. "We all have to see as well what has happened before she...lost her heart."


	2. Tranquil Darkness

**PART ONE:**

**KEY OF BEGINNINGS**

_**Day 1**_

_What...just happened to me? _

Rexa knew that she just woke up from a daze. She was in the room with Marluxia, Namine, and the other members of the Organization that were in Castle Oblivion, Marluxia did...something to her, and at that point she must have fell asleep, or passed out. Either way, she woke up, but this time she wasn't in a vulgar dark alley. She leaned on her knees to see that she was on a giant grassy hill top, and when she looked ahead she saw what looked like a large town with many small houses that were lined up in a couple of rows at different areas. And once again, she noticed something different about herself. Her hair was the same length and color, but there were no streaks in it, and it seemed straighter than before. She was no longer wearing the Organization uniform, but a black shirt with hanging sleeves off the shoulders but with spaghetti straps to hold the shirt tight, metallic blue shorts, fishnet tights underneath and white ankle-length heeled boots. To make things odder for her, she had a lip ring too; now she really wondered what the hell happened. If she were to enter the Castle in this outfit instead of the other, Larxene would have referred her to a stronger word than _skank_. But she felt she needed to look around the town before she did anything else, kind of like in the other town.

It didn't take too long to reach the actual neighborhoods and shops from the hills. She noticed that a lot of people, some adults and some kids, waved at her, and she would wave back to some of them; but she admitted that she began to wonder if she knew any of those people. The street that she was walking on was named 'Reward Ave', yet Rexa didn't see anything that was worth a reward on the street. The block looked pretty calming so far, nothing very suspicious or the like, so Rexa was partly okay with the idea that she was born in the town; but who did she know there. The question was almost answered instantly.

"Yo, Era!" Shouted a man's voice. He called out a name that she knew wasn't hers, but something told her to react. She turned around, and in front of her was a young man that looked about her age. He had enough facial hair to make it a perfect time for a shave and his hair was light brown and curved upward at his shoulders. He was wearing all black on his t-shirt and shorts, but he seemed harmless if you looked at his entire figure in a different way. But as soon as Rexa saw his face, a name flashed brightly in her mind.

"Lucas! You have off today?" Rexa, but for now: Era, called back. Lucas slowed down and stopped at where the blonde was standing with a coy grin on his face.

"Yes, the boss's wife needed some help with unpacking some more shit. You know how they just moved here a month ago? They haven't unpacked the big boxes yet!"

"So no munny for today, huh?"

"Apparently not." Lucas shrugged. He didn't seem to mind at all, but Era knew his poverty problem and had to work somehow today.

"Well...did you offer if you could help them with the unpacking? If you do, you might be able to throw in a friendly fee."

"That is a nice suggestion, Era; but I already got myself some work for today."

Era blinked. "Hmm? What and where?"

"There's this new accessory shop that's opening soon too, and the owner said he'd pay me if I helped him decorate and unpack for him. The usual gig."

"That sounds like a good idea."

"So, Era, what are you doing today?" Lucas asked, this was the only part in the conversation that got _Rexa _stuck.

"Well...I'm just walking around this evening. I felt a little lazy staying in the house all day."

"I thought you were watching over the those kids at Destiny Island."

Destiny Island? That's the first time Rexa's heard that. And watching over kids? Well if they were old enough to be on the island alone in the first place...-

"Hey, Era!" Another voice called in - a female voice this time. Era turned around once more to see two slightly younger looking girls walking in her direction. One of them was in uniform for what looked like a cafe, but was probably just leaving her shift. Her hair was long around the front yet became really short along the back and was streaked all the way around with dirty blonde and burgundy. Her skin seemed to be unusually pale to suit the rest of her, and her eyes were a mint green color. As for the other girl, her hair was down to her collarbone and was completely jet black. Unlike the other girl, she was rather tan, her eyes were hazel, and she looked a lot more grown when she smiled. The moment both of the girls approached, two unusual flashbacks came into Rexa's mind. The first vision was of Era when she was visiting the cafe that her friend worked in. It was right after they had themselves a decent conversation the moment they just met.

_"My name's Renée." _

_"Nice to meet you! I'm Era by the way." _

_"Hmm...I don't think I've meet anyone with your name before...you and I really need to hang out some time; and not just this hell of a cafe." _

_"Are you going to be off soon?" _

_"Actually...it'll only be an hour before my shift's over. We can hang out then!" _

The second vision came to view and it wasn't as pleasant as the other one. The jet-black haired girl was lying on her side on a gravel road, looking as if she just took a beating from a whole gang of people. Rexa noticed that Era was standing in front of a small crowd of kids that looked about her age, screaming at them angrily and taking a step or two towards them.

_"-NOW! GET OUT, NOW!!" _

_"Or what?" _A girl in the crowd, who looked a little hammered, shouted back. She took a few steps back into the crowd as if to stand her ground, and the rest of the kids were silent; silent but smirking, laughing, and taunting a little, as if there was just a fight between the torn girl and the drunkard, but Era most likely made a difficult attempt to break them up.

_"I'M ASKING YOU POLITELY TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF OUR WAY!" _Era replied loathingly. At this point, the girl then walked back forward a little further than she backed up, close to where Era stood, and socked her hard across the face. Era could here a small rip sound as her hand flailed past her, and for a moment, time had slowed down. The girl's nails were very long, painted maroon, and they had scratched Era's cheek like a hawk's talons. When Era managed to lower her hand, the other girl was back at her distance. "_Dude! You just freakin scratched my face!" _

_"Well, what are you going to do...?! Huh?" _The other girl asked as if she's lost half of her mind. Somehow the vision skipped what seemed like a lot, for once it came into focus again, the crowd was gone, and Era was kneeling beside the wounded girl, who apparently had a bad reputation with most of the teenagers around the town.

_"I'm Natasha." _

_"And I'm Era. You don't have to tell me about what the shit was between you and those guys." _

_"No...I'd rather tell you. I've been hiding it for a while now from everyone." _

_"Oh? Why me?" _

_"Because you went through all of that trouble to get those kids away from me. And..."_

_"And?" _

_"I just somehow know you have it in your heart to keep it a secret."_

_"Good enough. Let's get you home." _Era replied. She let Natasha's arms go around her back so that she could help her up and walk to safety. At that, the visions ended, and Lucas and the two girls, Renée and Natasha, were looking at her as if she fell asleep on the dot.

"Yo...Era?" Natasha called out, waving her hand so she could try and grab Era's attention. Era blinked in reply and suddenly everything went back to focus.

"Oh? Sorry. I kind of spaced out when you came."

"Thinking about someone important?" Renée teased. Lucas had chuckled a little.

"Oh, I see now~ no wonder you weren't at Destiny Islands last today. You were going to talk to Isa before I came, huh?"

_Isa? Why was that familiar._ "Well...yeah, I was going to a phone booth to dial him." Era said, becoming pink around the cheeks. Renée laid one of her hands on her hips and smirked at the confused blonde.

"Well its obvious you can't coddle with him. He's on like, the other side of the world."

Lucas licked the side of his lip. "Coddle? You mean _cuddle_, right Renée?" He replied with a coy tone. Renée scoffed at his guess.

"No, _Lucas_; not that. I mean that they're so distant from each other." Renée explained. She then turned her attention back to Era. "And you only talk to each other during night, right? Why not during the day?"

"He's nocturnal, and he has a dog to strictly look after too. So he probably woke up by now and is getting ready for that."

"I see. You two should totally visit one day." Natasha said, twirling a few of her hairs in between her fingers. "Hey...have you ever sent a letter to him before?"

Era blinked. "No. Why?"

"You should totally send him one, with a photo of you too if he hasn't seen you yet."

"I've got email, you know." The blonde replied, looking at her side. Natasha giggled at her reaction.

"Hey, its worth a try. What better way to get to know each other better than a letter?...Or email; since that's what you recommend."

"Need some help with that?" Lucas asked slyly. Renée rolled her eyes.

"Lucas, we're just giving suggestions to her. This is between her and Isa only, and has nothing to do with your sexual fantasies."

"Whatev'. You can do what you want. I'm always available though, remember that, Era."

Era could only slightly raise her eyebrows and roll her eyes to another spot, not wanting anything to do with his 'help'.

_Pervert._ Era thought to herself. "I'll consider your offer." _Not._ Rexa really remembered who Lucas was at this point. He was a sweetheart most of the time, but at other times -or whenever any source of his or Era's friends were around- he could be a real pig. They had hooked up at one time when they were in their last year of middle school, but now it was their first year in college, and Era's grown up and preferred them both to be just friends. Renée has worked in cafe's ever since she started her first job as a 7th grader, and had a real taste for pastries, despite how unusually skinny she was. Natasha had exposed the truth about the one drunken girl's 'cheating educationally and relationship-wise' and had at one time made a kid drown in the waters near the island. The news got around and she was no longer allowed to baby-sit -since parents were concerned about her behavior around toddlers- and the drowned kid turned out to be the drunk girl's younger and most favored niece, and that's how she got the beating. Rexa knew all about her friendship stories now, but what would occur next. The sun was no longer visible and the sky was covered by a mass of clouds that overshadowed the whole town.

"Um, guys? I'm going to...check on the kids." Era said, breaking the silence uneasily.

"Oh, okay then." Renée replied smiling. "We'll see you tomorrow then?"

"I've...got some work to do tomorrow; I think." Era replied. Without waiting for another voice to follow up the conversation, she began to walk downhill towards where she could see a shore. She could imagine the three behind her wondering if there was anything wrong with her, but to answer their question she was actually a Nobody in the body of her Somebody that's just retracing her steps of what happened in her before-life. They would think that she was crazy if she told them that. A rhythmic gust began to blow a little not too long before she left her friends behind, and the sky was becoming slightly darker by the minute, the sun now engulfed by cloud and fog. It didn't take too long to walk to the shore line of the town. It was just like a beach, and Era could tell that people were hanging around there not too long back. She stepped forward, an inch away from where the high tide usually reached, and stared ahead at the ocean. Apparently there was an island at least a mile away from the town. She could see the shadow of what looked like a few trees and a whole fortress altogether in the shape of a black blob. That's where she said she'd look after the younger ones, but she lied. She only came to the shore to stare ahead. _Destiny Island_. The words echoed through Rexa's mind, and as if it were a trigger, Rexa had suddenly became separate from Era's body. In fact, the whole view of Era, the shore, and the rest of town became a gray color, as if Rexa were watching an old movie, but she herself was still in the scene. Era didn't turn to face Rexa, so Rexa knew that she was completely out of the scene, but at the same time she was.

"This...is so insane." Rexa said, figuring that she was talking to herself as she stared at the dazed Era in front of her, but she was instantly corrected.

_"I know right? Who ever knew your past life would be this way?" _A familiar voice interrupted. Rexa looked around her, anxious to see where it was coming from, yet nobody was around, except for a certain Nobody that emerged from behind her.

"You know, you're pretty cute as a Somebody." Axel said, smirking as he approached the heartless blonde. "Not that I'm saying that you're not now, but you know what I mean." He turned his head so that he was looking at Era, who continued her own actions in her little scene. "You're friends seem a little unusual though."

"You're one to talk." Rexa replied, looking at her former self as well. She felt Axel's gloved hand slide softly underneath her chin and then onto her shoulder.

"I know you don't feel any different than her, but that's what being a Nobody is partly about. Once you're born, you've lost your memories of everything that has to do with your past, including your friends, family, even your own name. Once you realize what happened before you become a Nobody, you'll probably feel the same."

"So I hear..." Rexa replied, wanting to look away from her Somebody at that. She could see from the corner of her eye that Axel was smirking, but his smile later on vanished slowly.

"It hurts, doesn't it? I was that way too, when I first joined the organization. After a week or two, you'll get used to it." He backed up a little a looked around the shore himself, as if he were studying it. Then he looked back at Rexa and put his hands to his hips. "You won't be waking up just yet."

Rexa was going to apply, but in a blink of an eye everything just snapped back to the way it was. Rexa found herself in Era's body once more looking dazed up at the sky. Era gasped as she looked around desperately to see if anyone else was around, but she was completely alone. It was officially night time and the moon had appeared brightly above the clouds. When some of the thin fogs passed by in the sky, Era could truly see how remarkable the moon looked. Rexa remembered Isa telling me how he thought the moon was quite beautiful, and how by just staring at him made him feel at ease. The same way was with Era; staring at the moon made her feel more comfortable. Her peace was suddenly interrupted by a beeping noise, coming from her hand. She held it up to see that her wrist watch seemed to be sounding its alarm. _When did I have a watch?_ Rexa thought. Placing her hand on her cheek as if to see how warm it was, Era realized what the time was.

"I'd better get home." She told herself, before she ran away from the shore towards her home. She figured that the kids on the island went home on their own at the time it was now. Her home seemed more like a ghost town during the night, it was actually a little frightening. She walked to the point of where she met her three friends and looked to her side. There were a few rows of houses to both of her sides from one direction, yet a bunch of closing shops in another. The numbers that she saw only ran by numbers ranging from tens to hundreds, and she decided to start off simple and started to walk towards the house labeled '1'. Rexa didn't know that house numbers came that low; after all, she was smart enough to know that most apartment numbers went by thousands. Walking past ten houses took quite a stroll down the street. At that point, the moon was at its brightest, and Era wondered if Isa was waiting for her call at this point. Rexa pretty much forgotten when exactly she'd call him, but she figured it'd have to be soon since the evening had passed already. Something instantly caught her eye when she looked to the right to face another house. It seemed fairly different than the rest, but it wasn't the eye catching part. Unlike the other houses, this one had its apartment number in roman numerals instead of a number, and the entire area seemed more neat than the rest. The numerals on the wall read XIII; number 13. _Must be something to make me feel special._ Rexa thought, but Era began walking up the driveway, as if she knew it was her house. It was instant as if the thought was a trigger since the moment she took two steps onto the gravel, another few flashbacks appeared in her thoughts. The first seemed pretty simple and was same to where she was standing at that moment, only it was sunrise. On the driveway stood Era herself, only she looked about 14 years old, and two adults; and Rexa figured it was her parents. Smaller Era, however, looked like she had a bone to pick with someone.

_"Now now, Era. I know you're upset, but there is no need to judge until we really get to know this place. We're starting a new leaf now, okay?" _The mother said cheerfully. It didn't lift small Era's mood one bit.

_"Sure...right. This place is going to be one __**hell **__of a show for me." _Era Jr. replied.

_"Now Era, your mother's right. Just because we're someplace new now, doesn't mean its going to ruin your whole life." _The father cut in.

_"It already has. I mean- look at this junk!" _Era Jr. shouted. She pointed out multiple flaws around the house and some of the others. _"I can't believe you think this excrement is better than our old home! I'd just hope for your sake the people aren't like this too." _

_"Era, you really need to know when to look on the bright side of things when something appears...different. And I'm tired of that tone in your voice." _

_"Hey, I get tired of yours plenty of times; you don't see me complaining." _

For some reason Rexa was forced to look up - either that or she rolled her eyes up just in time, because in the crack of a second she heard a loud SMACK sound. It didn't seem to get to her head till a few more seconds, but then it hit her like a crack of a whip, and then looked back down. Era Jr. grimaced, her hand on a slightly red, burning cheek and holding in a urge to cry. Rexa did wonder if she really made that big of a fuss over a new home.

_"You're so mean...you're __**always**__ so fucking mean...! Why don't things always go the way I plan!?" _

At that, the little ranting girl ran away from the house, her parents infuriated and yelling at her to come back. She didn't know where she was going, but she just sped up, wanting to go somewhere that she's never been before; but that could be anywhere but that train wreck of a home. Rexa remembered how angry she was when she first found out that she and her folks had to leave the city. It was the most dreadful time of her life, and she never felt that kind of feeling before. She felt as if her heart just got jabbed with a sledge hammer, her stomach felt as though it sunk to her butt, and her throat felt as dry as when you swallow multiple giant pills dry. She hated the feeling. She _hated _it!

And it hit her. Her flashback ended and the first thing she looked at was the roman numeral above the door; only...it was a roman numeral anymore; it was a regular number thirteen. _When did that happen?_ Rexa thought. Regardless, it was the same house as it was in her flashback, so she then knew it was her home. When Era placed her hand on the doorknob, it sent a chill through her veins. It was always so cold at night, and she still hasn't gotten used to it since she moved there. Stepping through the door, Era noticed that only a few lights were on still. Her parents were sitting on the dining room table and smiled when they saw her going through the hall.

"Heya, Era. Did you have a nice day?" The father asked joyfully. Era only smiled as if it were same old same old.

"Yes."

"Did you talk to Lucas today?"

"Yes."

"Did he work today?" The mom cut in.

"No." Era said, same tone.

"But he is working somewhere for a substitute, right?"

"...Yeah." Era then replied. The room got awkwardly silent, Era's cue to go to her room before more talking started. Era's room was prettier than Rexa thought it would be. It was a red-based color- red walls, red and pink polka-dotted carpet, and a twin sized bed with maroon sheets and a lot of pink colored pillows. There was a plush next to one of the pillows that looked exactly the same as the little white pom-pom creature she saw at the place she woke up. She wondered deeply if she forgot it may be a common species. Not that it mattered at the moment, Rexa could find out more later on; but in the meantime, Era walked over to the bed that partly looked like a giant strawberry and picked up her cell phone without even looking at it. Checking the screen, she saw that she didn't have any messages, so Isa was probably expecting her call. _How would I talk to him?_ Rexa wondered. _I can't even remember what he sounds like. _At that thought, almost like a trigger, the phone vibrated roughly in her palm, making her yelp a little from the sudden shaking motion. The caller ID said '**Isa**' in the front with a photo of a crescent moon below it. Rexa hesitated, but Era immediately answered.

"Hello there, Isa." She greeted casually.

"_I feel so much better now that I hear your voice." _Isa replied. _"You would not believe what just happened." _

"What happened?" The curious blonde asked. She spread out on her bed and began twirling one of her hairs.

"_Well…word has it that there's a newly found species around here; and…I think I saw it." _

"What did it look like?"

"_I don't know exactly. I was outside and it was sort of a camouflage. It had a small shape, but it blended in with the darkness." _

Well it put the plush on her bed out of the question. "Sounds like a shadow to me."

"_Well, no. It was standing in front of a black wall, and its eyes were a yellow color. I don't know anything else that looks like that, and everyone else is suspicious too." _

"Heh. Should I come over there and see for myself?"

"_Nah. Wouldn't want you to travel all that time for just a mysterious creature around here. I'd be willing to take a photo of it for you if you'd like to. Fun's not over yet." _

"I'd be delighted if you were to do that for me." Era replied. She rolled to her side, wondering how the weird thing would look.

"_I'll be sure to do so. But in the meantime, how have you been doing?" _

Era was going to reply, but the same thing that happened around the beach just triggered in the room as well. Everything went monochromatic, and Era was still running her mouth. Rexa sat beside her curiously , unable to hear the rest of the conversation, but she already knew someone else was going to appear around.

"Isa, huh? That's just cute." A female voice said. The voice was very close, it sounded as though it came from Rexa's side. In fact, Larxene was at her side, sitting beside her with a cheesy grin on her face and her arm around Rexa's shoulders.

"What do _you _know about him?" Rexa asked. She couldn't tell herself if she asked suspiciously or curiously; possibly both.

"Weeellll, I'd tell you; but it'd be so heartbreaking, and you'd agree if I did. You'll find out later on, dear, I promise."

"I guess Isa is my business anyway." Rexa replied, looking over at the mirror hanging at the wall. Even the reflection was colorless except for the two female nobodies. "But that thing he mentioned on the phone, what about that?"

"Oooh, it won't be too long before you find out about that too. Trust me, you don't have to find out everything right away. You'll know as your past goes through."

"You just hate to kill suspense, don't you?" Rexa replied. Larxene cackled a little, bringing a finger to her lips.

"Yes, but I call it 'exposing secrets'. Its for me to know, and for you to find out on your own. Sorry to break it to you."

Rexa glanced back at the comfortable blonde. "So why'd you even come here."

"To watch your other self converse so sweetly with her lover from the other side of the world. Where is he anyway?"

"I don't even know…" Rexa replied. She guessed that Larxene appeared to give her a brief reminder of what she should think about as she looks through her past.

"You'll know soon." Larxene replied. She got up from the blank bed and looked at herself in the mirror, a grim smile on her slightly pale face. "Let's just say I know where he is _now_." It sort of made Rexa think a little more at that point.

"What do you mean 'where he is now'?"

Larxene didn't reply. But she did turn around and smirked and did the same gesture with her figure, placing it on her lips. With a small laugh, she vanished into the swirling shadows. Now Rexa felt dumbfounded as she stared at the spot where the other blonde vanished. In an instance, the room got its color again, and Rexa was once again in the form of her somebody, continuing to babble something that she couldn't even hear at first, but then the sound began to echo through seconds later.

"-together we might see it for ourselves."

_"Oh? When and where would such a fantastic and beautiful night occur, hmm?" _A curious Isa asked. Despite Rexa not hearing anything for a moment, it was like she didn't know what to say, but at the same time she did.

"Not sure. But I'm tired of waiting, you know? We've been stuck on the phone and computer for quite a while now."

_"How long?" _

"Three years, to be honest."

Whoa, three years? That did seem like a long time to Rexa, and rightfully agreed with her other, despite that she didn't recall much about Isa. But she remembered what Larxene told her; she'd have to find out everything for herself, not that she wouldn't later on.

_"We'll think of a date somehow."_

"Alright then. So...do you have to go now?"

_"Unfortunately. I'm starting to do reports on the moon now. Its very important, as well as beautiful- as you are aware of." _

Era smirked as if he could see her smile. "Very well, then. I will allow you to do your work. Talk to you tomorrow?"

_"Of course, my darling." _Isa replied. Era could hear his soft chuckle on the other side of the phone, it nearly made her melt from the rhythmic sound of his amusement.

"Good night, Isa." Era said. She got the same message in return before she pressed the red button on her cell to hang up. It was around nine o'clock when she checked the time, and it was darker than she thought it would be when she looked outside the window. Something gave her a really strong urge just by looking at the window, but she wouldn't let it get control over her; or would she? She didn't want to find out, so she only dimmed her light so her room was dark and of a soft gray color. The moon's light shined through the window even more when there was no other light in the room, and it made Era even more curious.

"I don't think...a peek could hurt." Era said to herself. With only a short black spagetti-straped tank on and short shorts, she didn't realize till the last minute how suddenly cold it has gotten in her room, and the window wasn't even open - yet. Pushing herself off the bed, she waddled off the covers and walked swiftly over to the window. Despite her room being on the third story, she couldn't see anything more than the lights from the other houses and the luminescent moon. She felt she had no choice but to open the window to get a closer look. When she raised the window up from its stand, a sudden wind came blowing through Era, making her shiver as the cold had crawled up her veins. As she popped her head out in the open, she looked down below her. The streets were entirely empty as there were no people or animals around in the dark. "Isa...you've really made me curious."

"That girl always looks for trouble." Another voice said. The moment that Rexa turned to see who came to speak to her now was also the moment where everything froze in place. Everything was gray once more, but this time nothing moved in the separate scene. Rexa wouldn't be surprised that such a thing happened if Vexen were to appear.

"Trouble?" Rexa questioned.

"Its a shame that this Isa of yours doesn't know what he had discovered. And now he wanted to drag you along too. Pity to be so ignorant."

"Well, do you know what the creature is?!" Rexa replied, and she didn't even realize that she slightly shouted her words. Vexen cackled a little from her question.

"Of course. They're the reason why people lose their hearts in the first place, and why only a select few become Nobodies."

"So...that thing that Isa described to her; it's...dangerous?"

"Hostile in every possible way, dear."

"But, how do I warn him!?"

"You can't. Even if I tell you now what those creatures are, your doppelganger over there can't read your thoughts; even when you're in her body, studying memories. Besides, its not like all of this is happening right now. We've told you that these are only fragments of your memories of the past. Just re-runs. You can't do anything about it but watch."

Rexa didn't know how to reply to that. From what she just heard, she didn't want to see the worst to come in the future of this playback. Somehow without even noticing, the frozen scene had begun to have motion once more, and Era was still looking out the window; her hair being blown back behind her. Rexa noticed that she sighed a little, and after a minute or two, closed the window.

"But look on the bright side. Despite that we are just Nobodies who have no one to be, we still 'are'. So you're lucky you're alive to see all this; let alone, being brought back to life to have a fate that sets within the Organization." Vexen did the grim smirk that he did often when Rexa first appeared in Castle Oblivion. It was weird how he always looked satisfied to see her, and he told her info about her past than Larxene and Axel did.

"I see you've gone speechless. Well, if you can't think of anything to reply at the moment, I shall leave you alone to think."

"We'll see." Rexa replied. Vexen vanished back to where he was before, probably in the Castle watching over her with the other members, and Rexa found herself in bed, with her eyes closed. The bed was comfortable though, it settled her mind, but nothing could settle what she was thinking about right now. She thought once again about how all of these were just figments of her past, and how she could do nothing to stop the worst to come.


	3. Feeble Darkness

_Previously on **t h e l i f e l e s s l e e c h**:_

_"...Poor girl. Lost physically and mentally. It pains me to see a new Nobody that is clueless in thought."_

"But tell me, girl. Do you remember your past at all? Do you remember your family, your home? What about your name?"

_"I...don't know." _

_xxx_

_Xemnas, is she prepared for the worst? _

_...**Indeed**._

_xxx_

_"Marluxia, I trust that you will be able to guide her until she feels comfortable going around on her own?" _

_"Yes, my lord."_

_xxx_

_"Marluxia thinks that Xemnas found you in Traverse Town, a town where people lost their homes to the Heartless." _

_"The...Heartless?"_

_xxx_

_"But...I don't remember anything. How can I have memories if I don't remember the things that I'm supposed to remember?"_

_"Everyone has memories, even when they are unaware of it."_

_xxx_

_"It's about time, we found out what has happened to you in the past."_

_xxx_

_"I know you don't feel any different than her, but that's what being a Nobody is partly about. Once you're born, you've lost your memories of everything that has to do with your past, including your friends, family, even your own name. Once you realize what happened before you become a Nobody, you'll probably feel the same." _

_"You won't be waking up just yet." _

_xxx_

"_What do_ _you know about him?"_

"_Weeellll, I'd tell you; but it'd be so heartbreaking, and you'd agree if I did. You'll find out later on, dear, I promise." _

"_You just hate to kill suspense, don't you?"_

"_Yes, but I call it 'exposing secrets'. It's for me to know, and for you to find out on your own. Sorry to break it to you." _

_xxx_

_"So...that thing that Isa described to her; it's...dangerous?"_

_"Hostile in every possible way, dear." _

_"But, how do I warn him!?" _

_"You can't. Even if I tell you now what those creatures are, your doppelganger over there can't read your thoughts; even when you're in her body, studying memories. Besides, its not like all of this is happening right now. We've told you that these are only fragments of your memories of the past. Just re-runs. You can't do anything about it but watch." _

_"But look on the bright side. Despite that we are just Nobodies who have no one to be, we still 'are'. So you're lucky you're alive to see all this; let alone, being brought back to life to have a fate that sets within the Organization."_

_She thought once again about how all of these were just figments of her past, and how she could do nothing to stop the worst to come._

* * *

_**Day 2**_

Era must have been thinking too hard about last night. Her head had ached a little when she realized that it was morning, and rubbing it didn't really help. Rexa wasn't really sure if it was her own head or Era's head though; since they were both the same people. Aside from what happened yesterday, Rexa had no idea what she would do around the morning, even if she was just watching pieces of her memories, she's taking the exact same actions as her other self. Era rose up in her bed with quite the messy morning hair, so she knew that she was tossing and turning. But she had no dream last night, at least she didn't think. With her hair out of the question, she got up from her red bed and walked over to where her mirror was and stood blankly in front of it, examining herself quietly. Rexa was partly freaking out because she saw her own reflection as a Nobody and not of Era, but apparently her other blonde didn't see the same thing. Rexa closed her eyes shut and opened them after a few seconds to see her real self's reflection in the mirror this time, and knew that she could see things that her illusion self couldn't see as well. So far, Rexa realized that she had a few friends, she could possibly have more, she had a long distance boyfriend, and that there is somehow a new species sprouting somewhere. She figured that today, she should try and find out what the creature was; at her own risk.

She heard her phone buzz loudly all the way from its charger on the cabinet. The caller wasn't in her phonebook, so it came out as all numbers. Pushing the 'call' button anyway, Era placed the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" Era asked. There was a slight pause between her call, so she nearly figured that a bot called her, but then a familiar voice finally answered.

_"Era?" _Renée's voice replied back, sounding a little desperate.

"Renée? Are you okay? You sound a little anxious for something."

_"I...can't move. Something...attacked me. Can you come get me?" _Rouge's voice seemed to fade a little since she had a bad connection with her own phone, and it seemed to Rexa that she could get hurt very easily.

"Renée...call for help. I'm on my way over; where are you?"

_"An alley near the city limits. I think someone else was here...earlier. I was passing by, and then I heard a scream from here. I checked it out, and next thing I know, something leaped at me and I was out in a second. I woke up five minutes later I think, and...I'm bruised everywhere...."_

"Renée, try not to say anything else. I don't want to lose you, okay? I know where you are."

Era hung up without waiting for a reply. She tried to imagine what condition that Renée was in right now, but at the same time she really didn't want to think about it. Quickly getting dressed, in nothing more than a diminutive black blouse, a pair of cleaved jeans, and sandals, she ran outside swiftly to try and find her friend. Lucky for her, the town was small enough to run around and not take a lot of time, otherwise Renée would have to count on finding someone else to come and give her a lift. The other side of the town probably take a few shortcuts that Era had discovered in the past - a whole bunch of holes in the walls or walking a shorter path underground the subways or the old fashion forest cut- and she had a feeling that Rouge wouldn't expect her for too long. The first forest that she reached seemed to have had its trees cut down, making it easier to see through, and Era had no time for realization.

After a while of running and wheezing through parts of town, the anxious blonde stopped her fast pace for a moment to rest. She leaned down a little to let herself hang a little, only to find her cell phone vibrating in her pocket. Taking it out, it was only a text message from Lucas, but it was marked under 'urgent'. _Shit, Lucas. Not right now...! _Groaning, she read the text, only to be alarmed around the end.

**Yo, Era! You'd better stay inside of home today.**

**I just witnessed this freaky thing right now. This shadow like thing...**

**I didn't know what it was, but it attacked a passerby on my way to work. **

**Now the cops are on their way here, but I realized there were more of those things lurking.**

**I don't know what they are, but everywhere I seem to turn there's more of them. **

**As far as I know, I may not get to work safely, so try and tell Renée and Natasha.**

**Warn them that these things are at-**

Either Lucas ran out of space to text, or something startled him enough to send it unfinished. It was obvious that Renée didn't tell him about her condition; it may have been the thing he mentioned that attacked her. Era suddenly felt as if she never ran in the first place and had enough energy to run again. She began to dart through the chopped down forest as Rexa stood back watching her in gray vision. At this point, she knew that things were going to be bizarre; she swore that it would be.

"How does your flashback go thus far?" A very deep voice asked behind Rexa. She turned to find the bold man she met earlier, Lexaeus, behind her with his eyes closed and arms crossed. Figuring it was his regular poise, she tried not to aggravate him easily.

"Shocking." Rexa replied. At this point there really wasn't much to say since last night. She noticed that he had then opened his eyes to look past where she stood blankly.

"It won't be too long before the Heartless becomes a real threat to your people."

"It already has. Renée's hurt, isn't she?" Rexa replied. Lexaeus turned his head to stare at Rexa curiously.

"Well in your level of words, how much does 'hurt' hurt?"

_What? _Rexa nearly thought out loud. There was a disturbing silence after the question reached her head, for she knew that Lexaeus didn't seem like a Nobody that would toy with anything. "What do you mean?"

"I'm simply asking...how much pain do you suppose she can handle before it actually hurts?"

Rexa wasn't exactly sure herself. She did see in one of her first flashbacks on how Natasha got pretty fucked up by the group of kids, especially the wasted girl, but Renée's been through a lot worse. But around the time when she called in the morning, she sounded as if she's just gone through a freak accident.

"I'm not sure. She took a lot of pain in the past, and she sounded like she was in a lot when Era talked to her on the phone."

Lexaeus's expression didn't change, but he closed his eyes once more in deep focus. Rexa could see that through his face, he had the benefit of the doubt. The built Nobody scoffed a bit before looking past the blonde once more.

"Apparently she likes to get in trouble." Lexaeus continued. "And that she really doesn't fight back at anything, does she?"

Rexa thought awhile, knowing that there already has a been a lot of concentration in the awkward conversation. She did recall Renée getting in trouble a lot in the past experiences along with Era; the conspiracies, the cheating, the talking smack, and now the...-

"The...Heartless." Rexa suddenly realized. "What Marluxia told me about. That's what attacked Renée? The Heartless?!"

"It looks like you're ahead of things already." Lexaeus replied. Rexa noticed that ever since she's met him, she hasn't seen him smile once until now. "Well then, I guess while you look at what's ahead, you'll get another premonition of...what's to come."

He went back to his usual posture before he disappeared into the shadows. Rexa had a feeling that all of the members of Castle Oblivion would meet her throughout this unusual experience. How long would this last? She wanted to see what happened, but only how she actually lost her heart, not all of this emotion beforehand. She even wondered how she was back in the castle anyway; since this was like a dream, was she unconscious? She'd wish she could just skip all of the past and get to the point of it, and then get back to reality. Before Rexa got back into Era's shoes, everything had faded in and then faded out to where she was still running, but this time she looked like she was in the outskirts of the town, which meant she was pretty close to Renée. The outside of town looked like sacred ground. Nobody was around and all of the buildings would be in a curved line as if they were forming a giant circle. At this point, the sun was at its highest in the sky, possibly searching for Renée easier. Era could hear a ruffling yet a scratchy sound not too far to her side, yet when she turned to find any sort of disturbances, there was nothing. It almost seemed too quiet around where she stood, so she almost immediately knew that there was something lurking behind her; but it was not visible at the moment, so she also knew it wasn't human. Another scratching sound echoed through the empty circle, a little farther away than the previous sound, but it sounded more like a shoe scraping on the concrete. As if it were a rhythm, the scrape sounded out once more, a little rougher.

"Renée?" Era called out.

There was no reply; instead, a distance hacking cough was heard around one of the alleys, possibly the dark alley that Renée mentioned on the phone. Without giving a second thought, Era ran to where the sound was triggered; and with her hope crushed, she found Renée...unconscious. Era stepped a little closer to get a better view -as much as she'd hate to- of her friend, who was laying on her side -as if someone or something rolled her over- and was bruised everywhere. A small red cut sat on her cheek looking fresh, as if she were just marked. The next thing that Era saw made her even more shocked; a little black fiend that she hasn't seen before was lurking around the motionless body, looking a little bit like how Isa described the creature he saw the other night; glowing gold eyes and a small black frame, as if it were a walking shadow. Rexa immediately recognized it from the way Vexen and Lexaeus warned her, and how Isa said it looked. So _that_ was the thing that caused her to lose her heart?! It was only a few seconds before it noticed that Era caught it red handed.

"You..." Era managed to mouth out. The moment she spoke, it had retreated into thin air, leaving Era and the motionless damsel by themselves. It made her tingle a little to wonder if it was that creature that caused the mess, but it was out of the question in a short notice once she noticed that Renée's hand involuntarily twitched. "Ah- Renée!"

More movement began as soon as the harmed girl's name was called out, but it was a struggling attempt since her arm was either too hurt to move or her immune system had been damaged also; which was unlikely to Era, but it was a possibility considering the condition Renée was in, and Era could only imagine how hard it would be to lift herself up.

"Renée, stop moving. You're injured everywhere."

Renée possibly couldn't hear her, because she struggled to lift her arm until it was resting on her hip, and after a moment of being idle, she slowly opened her eyes. One of them had a faint red streak diagonally across it, making Era mistaken it for being cut open, but she was happily wrong.

"Is...it gone?" The weakened girl asked.

"I think so." Era replied, she knelt down beside Renée on her knees and moved a few blond and red strands off of her face so it wouldn't infect her sore skin. "How long have you waited? I told you to call help."

"I...did. But I fainted...before I could actually...dial them." Renée replied, followed by a hacking cough, which made Era cringe a bit. "That thing...it wasn't what attacked me...but I faked death so...that it wouldn't."

"Then what _did _attack you?" Era nearly snapped. She was nearly ready to tear apart whatever attacked her friend, even if it was a threat to the town. The little punk earlier couldn't possibly stand a chance.

"It was...similar to that thing that appeared...earlier. It was...much larger though...I didn't know what...it was, or what I could do...I was too scared to run." Renée's blinking seemed a little slower. _Shit shit shit...!_ Era nearly thought out loud. If Renée didn't seek medical attention soon, she'd probably lose more than her skin.

"Come on, Renée. I'm taking you to the nurse."

"One problem...my arm...it's the only thing...I can move. The rest of me is...paralyzed."

Era cursed. "I'm calling help for you. Hold on." Renée made a sigh of relief in reply and closed her eyes. Era figured that she was fine for now, since she was breathing normally, but she did take a fatal beating. Pulling out her phone, she dialed the emergency number, determined to bring Renée the help she needed.

* * *

"I am so fucking BUSHED." Era moaned loudly as she thudded on her bed covers. She invited Natasha over to her house after the ambulance picked up Renée to be taken to the hospital to hang out with her, and was also constantly texting Lucas about Era's experience since she was too tired to explain it once more. Natasha pulled her hair back in a black bun before trying to tie Era's.

"Well that must have been the lamest morning you've ever been through." She said as repeatedly stroked the handful of hair so that she could get it in a bun perfectly.

"It was. Seriously." Era mumbled through her sheets. "What does Lucas have to say about it?"

Natasha checked her phone curiously, seeing if her last text was replied recently as she tapped her fingers swiftly on each and nearly every button.

"He says, **"That is WACK." **"

Both of the girl's laughed at their other friend's reply, which seemed contrary to everything else he's ever said. Era didn't exactly know what was wrong with her, for ever since Renée went to the hospital and she ran back home, she felt a little shaky, but she didn't think that anything was wrong with her, unless she was somehow in shock; but Natasha was attempting to relax her.

"What do you suppose it was? That thing that was lurking around that alley?" Natasha questioned. Era rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling in deep thought.

"I don't know. Some kind of bug? But then again, I don't think a bug could do that much damage to anyone."

"Well, you are a witness. The FBI or whoever might contact you sometime since you're a friend of Renée, and they may want to know what it is themselves." The black haired girl replied. Almost immediately after she stopped talking, she froze as if she just realized something important. "Wait- have you told Isa about this yet?!"

"Its complicated to answer that because...I think he saw it too." Era replied. Natasha reacted as if she had just been slapped.

"Dude, if he knows something about that...thing that's roaming around town, he might be able to relate to the situation!"

"But he hasn't been attacked."

"Maybe not last night or anytime before, but what about all this morning?"

"He's asleep during the day, don't you remember?" Era replied, a little freaked by Natasha's realizations. The jet-blackette had leaned over to undo the blonde's fresh bun, to try and comb it frantically through.

"Era, you're missing my point. The last time you guys talked, it was the first time he mentioned the thing, right? What exactly did he say about it?"

Era hated repeating herself, as much as it seemed like the right means to do so, but she had nothing to lose, except for her voice. "He described it exactly how I saw it today: small, black like a walking shadow, and glowing yellow eyes. Apparently it vanished too the moment he saw it, but he told me that if he saw one again, he'd send me a photo of it."

Natasha got up from the red bed and decided to sit on the floor, mainly so that she could look Era in the eye in a far distance; that and Natasha's expressions seem more serious when she's looking up or down.

"When or if he sends that photo, you have to ask him to look for more of them."

"What?! That's way too risky! Didn't you just hear me tell the story of how Renée ended up!?" Era replied loudly as she sat up a little from her down position, giving just about as much eye to Natasha as she was giving to her. "That'll be like, using him, you know? I can't do that."

"We're not _using _him, we're asking for his help, and we're going to get Lucas and the others to help out too; since they weren't the only ones suspicious about this too."

Era blinked, playing with her lip ring a little bit with the tip of her tongue. "Who's _they_?"

"Those professors and scientists that live not too far from this town. I think they work for this one guy named Ansem? But anyhow, he and his apprentices are professors that study most inhumane and superhuman topics, if you know what I mean- and they heard about the sudden attacks that we've been getting lately. It was in one of the recent articles my mom was reading."

"You mean you got a bunch of nerds to assist us...?" Era asked blankly. She didn't seem that all impressed, but Natasha was adding on.

"They're not nerds - actually I heard they're pretty attractive, but they're the nation's top rated scientists and the like. They could help us find the hidden mystery about this...creature."

"You know, that might be a good idea." The blonde replied, awestruck. She stroked a few stands of hair over her shoulders as -to her surprise- Natasha pulled out a few articles from the little green backpack she brought with her. They were all education-based stories and reports, mainly based on Ansem; what were apparently called _Ansem's Reports_.

"Your mom really reads these? And _you_?!"

"If I've got nothing else to do. I'm not going to just sit in the middle of the floor, blankly waiting for the right moment to take a duce, especially with what's been happening lately."

"Well that was _really_ nice to hear, Natasha." Era joked. Both of the ladies laughed at the last part of the conversation as Era forced her jet-black haired friend to get back up on the bed to get comfortable. She took her time to show some examples of Ansem's reports to Era, who was studying them carefully since she didn't want to give Natasha the wrong idea that she was getting bored. A few of many parts of the reports were a little complicated to understand, and seemed contrary to a normal human being's ideas. It had all sorts of things that Era has never had the slightest idea about- or heard of; it main topic focused on the mysteries of the human heart, as if it were almost some kind of a mission to unlock them. There was something else that caught Era's eye, especially Rexa's: the DTD; aka Door To Darkness. It sounded like some kind of a haunted house attraction, but if it were in a highly educated professor's articles, then there had to be another meaning to it, as crazy as it sounded. Era felt that it was a good choice for Natasha to bring the reports with her to her house, despite that they haven't really answered anything yet, she felt as if she read further, then she would have a few answers to questions of her own. Natasha stayed around for about three hours before her mom called her to tell her to go home and help run errands, leaving the Ansem Reports to be with Era for the rest of the day. It was funny how whenever friends have to leave her house, she'd immedialty do something else that differed from whatever activities they were doing before, but Era wanted to keep reading the articles, as much as she hated to admit it to her very social friends; something about them seemed to suck her into reading more. Still on her bed, she lied on it flat as if she were getting in position for a massage, and went back to the page that she was originally on in the first issue she picked up.

And then it hit her. Rexa back out of virtual reality once again and separated from her somebody, _again_. The aura that she could sense was as suspicious as how Era looked as she read slowly across the Ansem Reports. Rexa waited as she wondered who would arrive to keep her company, but time seemed to go by a little longer than usual, and there wasn't a boot tap or a single breath to be heard. Pushing Era aside to the other side of her concerns, she turned around and noticed that Zexion was standing behind her the whole time, a concentrated and lustful look in his eyes, it nearly frightened her. Rexa sighed as her sudden rise of tension took its time to lower back down.

"Shit, Zexion. You scare me and don't even give me a hello."

The silver-haired man lowered his hands from his chin. "Nice to see you too, Rexa."

Rexa scoffed a little from his curt reply, but looked over back at the other focused blonde. "So...what's happening here?"

"She's trying to learn something. Soon she will get her answers, and a little more than she bargained for." Zexion replied. Rexa could tell from his glazed stare that he wasn't through talking. "For you see, we Nobodies ,_too_,know the wonderful studies of Ansem The Wise."

"Ansem? _The Wise_?"

Zexion nodded. "Yes. That was his full alias. Many people favored him, and still do; when they don't even realize it."

"Still do? How long ago did all of this happen?"

"Not too long ago, figuring that you were still the same age as you were when it happened."

That didn't really help loosen the tension that Rexa felt right now. "And...what about his apprentices?"

Zexion looked mildly taken back for a moment from the last question she asked, but in just a second he went back to his concentrated look. "You sure do like to ask questions."

"Hey now, I have a right to ask questions. Especially about things that happened to me in the past that I wasn't aware of until now."

"Well there you go then." Zexion said as if he were crediting her for doing something good. "If you keep watching what goes on, your questions will be answered. We've been through the same thing, so we would know." It left Rexa speechless momentarily, but just watching her past wasn't enough to answer her other questions, not to her. She looked at Era for another moment, but then looked to the side to see that Zexion was staring at her as if she were a book. "You have a scent of such innocence and weakness, and a newborn nobody. But out of all of the history that I've learned about nobodies, you're the most questionable newborn I have seen."

"Is that bad?" Rexa replied with a suspicious tone. Zexion let his hands hang down past his hips again.

"Well I'm not saying its good, but its not that it's bad either. See, that's what's so intriguing about you."

He disappeared, without a trace, without another answer to another question; was the worst to come, or has it already came? In a snap, Rexa was back looking through Era's eyes, and felt sudden emotions of delightment and amazement, as if she just learned something she was longing for. Natasha probably read all of the reports already, but she'd want to get in contact with her soon to tell her about what she learned. Who else though could she talk to about this crisis? A great answer suddenly hit her head, and she checked the clock. It was five minutes past four thirty, so it wouldn't be too long before evening strikes. Era picked up her phone and looked to see that she got a missed call. When she checked it, it was apparently from Isa, who called five minutes ago; but Era didn't notice because her phone was on 'silent' and was on its front lying on the counter. But Isa...oh Isa; he'd definitely hear about this.


	4. Looming Darkness

_Previously on **t h e l i f e l e s s l e e c h**:_

_"I...can't move. Something...attacked me. Can you come get me?"_

_"Renée...call for help. I'm on my way over; where are you?" _

_"An alley near the city limits. I think someone else was here...earlier. I was passing by, and then I heard a scream from here. I checked it out, and next thing I know, something leaped at me and I was out in a second. I woke up five minutes later I think, and...I'm bruised everywhere...."_

_xxx_

_"It won't be too long before the Heartless becomes a real threat to your people." _

_"It already has. Renée's hurt, isn't she?"_

_"Well in your level of words, how much does 'hurt' hurt?"_

_xxx_

_"Then what did attack you?"_

_"It was...similar to that thing that appeared...earlier. It was...much larger though...I didn't know what...it was, or what I could do...I was too scared to run."_

_xxx_

_"Who's they?"_

_"Those professors and scientists that live not too far from this town. I think they work for this one guy named Ansem? But anyhow, he and his apprentices are professors that study most inhumane and superhuman topics, if you know what I mean- and they heard about the sudden attacks that we've been getting lately. It was in one of the recent articles my mom was reading." _

_"They're not nerds - actually I heard they're pretty attractive, but they're the nation's top rated scientists and the like. They could help us find the hidden mystery about this...creature."_

_xxx_

_"You have a scent of such innocence and weakness, and a newborn nobody. But out of all of the history that I've learned about nobodies, you're the most questionable newborn I have seen."_

_"Is that bad?"_

_"Well I'm not saying its good, but its not that it's bad either. See, that's what's so intriguing about you."_

* * *

Era slowly walked down the stairs from the annoying call from her parents in the living room. When she saw their faces at first, she noticed that they didn't seem as bright and giddy as they usually were whenever she returned home from work or from other friend's houses; they didn't look anything related to satisfaction at all, which made her extra curious. When the two noticed that she walked in, they attempted to smile -and they did-, but it didn't look like it meant anything. She's only seen that kind of fake smile before and the pre-gloom when they didn't notice that she was around; it was the day they told her that they had to move to this town; she wasn't ready to hear what they had to say then, so she obviously wouldn't be ready for what she was going to here, she would have rather stayed in her room. The depression suddenly turned to tension as her mother used her hand to gesture her to sit down between the two. Era felt a lump in her throat as she walked forward at a regular pace, stepping easily yet wanting to go either slowly or hasty, but there was no real option than to walk at an equal speed. Once she reached the couch, she was still stiff, even when she sat down. Her father finally broke the silence when he cleared his throat.

"We were just informed your friend went to the hospital." He said uneasily. "That...she was attacked by something."

Era only nodded. She hung her head low as not even Rexa wanted to know what was going to happen next while a sudden light weight burden rested around her neck.

"And...well, Era. The doctor told us that since you were very close to Renée, they felt that they should contact us about this as well. So, Era-" Everything at that moment had become a sudden blur in Era's ears. Whatever her mom and dad were about to tell her, she didn't want to hear it. She even knew internally; since she didn't force herself not to hear anything unclearly, the emotion was really getting the better of her, and it would most likely not be long before it shows. The little voice suddenly became clear again.

"-It was actually to everyone's shock that about two hours after Renée arrived at the hospital, -" The voice continued. _No..._Era told herself. _**No**__...I refuse to hear...what she's going to say._ Her grief must have shown already, since her mother gave her that there's-something-wrong-with-you look.

"Era? Are you listening?" Mom asked. A hand riffled through her hair in attempt to comfort her, but failed unknowingly. The other darker voice chimed in.

"She might have an idea about what we're about to tell her."

Era managed to speak at this point. "I really...hope you won't say what I think you'll say."

"Kurk, lets just tell her so that we can get this over with." _Oh no..._

Kurk sighed and lifted his hand off of the frightened blonde's back. "Renée went into a coma, Era. I'm afraid we won't be hearing from her for a while."

_Oh my God..._both Era and Rexa thought at the same time. Thankfully, her parents didn't say that she was dead, but a coma still was something bad enough to bring her grief; and how long would it last?

"Are you alright, Era?" Mindy, her mother, asked with a concerned tone. Era seemed to have gotten up from the couch without realizing it, because feeling sick was the last thing on her mind. Darting in the bathroom and slamming the door behind her, she leaned over the toilet as most of her acid came pouring out of her mouth. Gagging a little, Era felt tears roll down her eyes. Renée was another person she was going to tell about her discovery once she was out of the hospital, but how long would that be? Her body heaved a bit, but nothing came out, leaving Era a little time alone in the bathroom to think, but her moment was interrupted by soft knocks on the door.

"Era? Era, I could hear you gagging. Are you alright?!" Kurk said behind the door. For once, Era was willing to speak out loud.

"No...I'm not." She replied. Her voice was scratchy and her throat stung a bit from the small trails of vomit still in her mouth.

"Do you need a doctor?!"

"No." Those were, to Era's decision, her last words until she decided to come out of the bathroom. She wondered if the others had heard the news about Renée as well. She wanted to tell them how she felt, but not in the condition she was in right now. Wiping off her mouth with some toilet paper, she flushed the toilet and cleaned out her mouth with water and her oral rinse. She walked out of the bathroom a few seconds later to be hit by cool air, only to realize that she had been sweating as well, and decided that she had probably let her emotions get the best of her. She didn't see her parents around so she guessed they were either outside or upstairs. The last question that she was asked did remind her of something though. There was one person she needed to see -but it wasn't a doctor. It was Ansem, and Natasha would have to assist her.

* * *

Back in her room, Era called Natasha on her phone guessing that she was done with her errands - she hoped. It was only three rings before the other line picked up.

_"Hello?"_

"Natasha...I have dirt."

_"Era? You don't sound so good. Something happen?" _

"Nothing special, I just got neglected by my own stomach acid." Era replied, her throat still a little croaky. She cleared it several times so that she could speak more clearly. "But...did the hospital call you today?"

_"No...why?" _

_Oh shit..._Era thought. That made it seem harder to tell Natasha what her parents told her, but she wasn't looking for another emotional situation, so she got over it.

"Natasha...Renée's in a coma."

_"Oh my fucking God, are you kidding me?!" _

"No...I'm not. That's what I was puking about. My parents were taking their time to finally tell me when the hospital notified them."

_"Oh, no. Era! I'm so sorry that happened! Will she be okay?!" _

"I don't know. I don't know anything right now accept that I need your help with something."

_"Well, what is it?" _

"Take me to where Ansem is. We're going with your plan."

_"What? Right now!?"_

"No. Not right now. How about tomorrow around this time? I've seen and heard a little too much today to do anything else except notify everyone about what happened to Renée."

_"Alright then. Do you need to speak to anyone right now? I was still a little busy when you called." _

"Yes, I do. I'll talk to you later, Natasha."

_"Okay, love. Talk to you soon!" _

Era hung up. She was going to call Lucas next, but she didn't feel like it at the moment; that and her heart felt a little faint. She just wanted to rest for a while and sleep through the stress without any interruption, and soon got what she asked for.

* * *

Era appeared to be dreaming since what she saw was out of the ordinary. She was lying in the middle of the street in an unknown city in the middle of the night. The sky was pitch black but many of the buildings had their lights on, seeming to make finding her way a little easier; but when she looked up at the sky for a little longer, she noticed something that you wouldn't see everyday. Little pink lights had fallen from the sky, soon vanishing once they've sunk to a certain point in the air, and when Era looked more closely at them, they looked more like hearts; it was raining little pink hearts. Did this dream have a meaning? She didn't know, but it sure did raise some questions. Era was staring at the sky for a distant time before she realized that she was in the midst of something unusual happening, and figured she'd have to lurk around the area before she began to freak. It was ironic that this place was making her a little perplexed but at the same a little tranquil, she wondered if it was just her hormones being uncanny. Right before Era walked into another slightly vivid area, an atypical sound triggered in a continuous beat; it made Era's heart race a little and halt in her place, she wasn't so sure if it were just an irregular dream or an isolated nightmare.

It only took a few seconds to realize that the sound was being heard within walking distance, and Era didn't know if she should wait to see what's coming closer or run since she seemed frozen. _There it is! _She thought as she noticed a white shoe or footstep out from the edge of one of the buildings. The whole figure shown itself in only a moment once Era caught it, and it was nothing like anything she's ever seen, and she didn't even know how to portray it. _What is that!? _

The thing's very slim and flexible body had walked over to a part of the alley as if it were stretching its limbs to reach farther. It had no eyes or fingers or an accurate frame, it didn't even look like it had a personality. But what was it? It looked over to where Era stood, as if it knew where she was the moment she caught its spot, and she slightly made a grimace when she saw its face. There was an unusual symbol on its head, and Era had no idea what it meant, nor did she know what the thing was going to do next.

An unknown whistling sound had sounded from behind Era, and she turned to see that some sort of portal had developed behind her; a void she could escape through so that she didn't have to figure out what the unknown creature was scheming. Not hesitating instantly, she walked backwards at first towards the portal, and then turned around and dashed towards it. She heard the unusual noise again that the thing made on its way to the area it was in, but it sounded a little more twisted than before, and she didn't want to turn around to see if anything happened. She just kept running, sprinting towards the shadow hole, and the moment she reached her hand into it was the same moment that a thin gray blade-like hand slashed across part of her neck at chin. She cried out a little as the rest of her vanished through the void, feeling a little damage the thing made, but it was gone now; as well as the city that she was previously in. _What just happened? _It was all a black abyss at first that the blonde stood alone in, but then a blue flash revealed a new scenery in the nick of time. Now she was standing on the shore of the town beach, which seemed out of nowhere. Stroking her cheek, Era could feel a wet streak across her cheek and onto her finger. Checking out her fingers, there was a thick line of blood and a little bit of bodily fluids. That slash felt sharper than anything she's ever felt before; sharper than a nice, quicker than a blink. Era looked around and so far didn't see anything out of the ordinary - yet. Finally deciding to walk, she took a couple of steps painstakingly away from the shore as she covered her cheek with a small cloth in her pocket - which was in an instant, half wet.

The town seemed a little shady at the moment, and Era noticed that someone stood afar, but didn't know who it was because he had his or her back turned. Whoever it was, it looked like he/she was cloaked with a black coat with the hood over their head. Era realized that she hadn't stopped walking until she could actually see the person clearly. Her shoes clacked loudly against the gravel, making the stranger turn around, and the face was shadowed, making it hard to see whom it was. Rexa felt a sinking feeling inside of her and felt Era's heart skip a beat despite her deficient. _Is that Xemnas?! _She could have sworn that she heard a chortle through.

"Who are you!?" Era questioned loudly.

"My identity is of no magnitude." A man-like voice said. He raised a barbed finger towards her though. "It isn't just a misapprehension. I've come here to warn you, since you lack the knowledge about what's to come." Rexa didn't recognize the voice, so she knew then that it wasn't Xemnas or any of the other Organization members. She could tell that Era was ill at ease.

"What knowledge?" Era asked the hooded man. He brought back his vaguely bend hand back to his side and scoffed a little.

"The knowledge you'll need to know once you come face to face with...-" He paused a moment, which made Era even more confused, but he didn't stall for long. "Face to face with...the Heartless."

The word 'Heartless' echoed through Rexa's mind for a moment, and then she unexpectedly knew it. That thing that attacked Renée was what ridded of her heart. And in a dream was when her somebody learned about it. It was all weird that she was going to have to be taught about them in a _dream_. What Rexa also wondered was if that silver flexible thing that attacked Era earlier was one of them.

"A being that has lost its heart, nothing more but an unfilled shell. If you let your guard down, you will not enjoy the outcome. Do you want to wind up like Renée?"

"Renée? How do you know her?!" Era asked suspiciously. _This is just a dream! It has to be; I never met this guy before! _"I don't even know you!"

"You are half correct on that." The mystery man replied. "We've known each other for so long now. I'm traumatized you're not pleased to see me."

Era blinked. "What do you mean?"

Another cold chuckle. "In the afterlife, you'll find out for yourself." The man began to vanish, and in a few seconds along with the scenery.

"Hey, wait!" Era shouted. She ran up to the dark swirls, but was too late once she realized that he was gone. She was left alone _again_ in the empty delusional town with no one to help her, despite that it was all just a dream; But the cloaked man said it was more than just a dream. It did take a little longer than usual to change the scene however; everything vanished into a began to fade into a complete blank. From the feeling that Era got when she was no longer in her town, she felt that there was nothing left for her to see. Nothing.


	5. Meeting Ground

_Previously on **t h e l i f e l e s s l e e c h**:_

_"Renée went into a coma, Era. I'm afraid we won't be hearing from her for a while."_

_xxx_

_"Natasha...I have dirt."_

_"Era? You don't sound so good. Something happen?" _

_"Natasha...Renée's in a coma."_

_xxx_

_"Who are you!?"_

_"My identity is of no magnitude. It isn't just a misapprehension. I've come here to warn you, since you lack the knowledge about what's to come." _

_"What knowledge?!"_

_"The knowledge you'll need to know once you come face to face with...the Heartless." _

_xxx_

"_A being that has lost its heart, nothing more but an unfilled shell. If you let your guard down, you will not enjoy the outcome. Do you want to wind up like Renée?" _

_xxx_

"_We've known each other for so long now. I'm traumatized you're not pleased to see me." _

* * *

It was around eight o' clock when Era finally woke up from her foretelling dream. There was no source of light in her room or coming out of the window. Reaching over weakly to turn to lamp on, she wiped a few wet blonde strands of hair off of her forehead, which was unusually sweaty; as well as the rest of her body. Her mom must have been in her room, since she wasn't under her sheets or covers when she fell asleep, that and her shirt wasn't on. She didn't feel a bit of cold air hit any part of her body, and it felt like it was eighty degrees in a crowded box of atmosphere. Peeking over at the side mirror, she could tell that all that's been going on so far was very exhausting. She wondered how Renee was doing, if she was still in a coma. Reaching sluggishly over for the phone on the desk, she checked to find that she had a text message sent about an hour ago from Natasha, and it seemed urgent.

**If you're available, meet me and Lucas by the alley near the subway station at 8:30! **

_Oh, joy._ Era thought glumly. She only had thirty minutes to prepare for their meet then. But she also forgot something else. She gasped as soon as she realized that she slept through the time that she usually talks to Isa. She didn't completely freak though. It wasn't the first time that she wasn't able to talk. However, she wanted to desperately tell him about what happened today, so that he could give his opinion on it and possibly comfort her. She's already heard enough about everyone else's opinion and the wait for answers to her questions was overwhelming her. The conversation would have to be short though, since she didn't have much time to do anything freely at the moment. Dialing Isa's number, she waited, and was honestly being impatient as she watched her fingers tap rapidly on her red blanket. There was still a dial tone after three rings, but it lasted longer that usual. Once something finally clicked, it was to Era's disappointment that Isa didn't pick up, but the operator came on instead of the voicemail center. It said that the phone might have changed its number or no longer has service. _What the hell? _

She'd try again later, but at the moment she slid on a pair of red shorts, a black halter-top, and a white pearl anklet. Slipping onto her sandals and pushing her cell phone down into her pocket incase of an emergency, she walked down the stairs quickly to find that her parents didn't seem to be home. She saw from the side of her eye that there was a note hanging onto the refrigerator door.

**Had a meeting to go to on short notice**

**we'll have some errands to do afterwards as well**

**we'll be back a little late! **

**~Parents**

So she wouldn't be able to tell them that she was going out, and she's never left the house before without them knowing. She'd just have to hope that they'd be out later than she hoped or that she'll be home before them. Grabbing her leopard print jacket on the way out, she left the house exactly the way it was when her parents left it, only her room light was off. Without a second thought, she quickly darted through the streets so that she would make it to the subway station on time. Her phone started to vibrate and at the same time she heard a car not too far behind her. Taking her cell phone out of her pocket, she pressed **Talk**.

"Hello?" Era greeted through heavy breaths.

_"So are you going to meet us?" _Natasha's voice replied back in curiosity.

"Yeah, I'm running to the station right now!" Era shouted, figuring that her friend couldn't hear the clapping steps against the gravel from her sandals. The sound of the car behind her got closer, and something unexpected happened.

"You don't have to!" Natasha's voice shouted at Era from behind. Era turned around to see that Natasha was right next to her in her green Mustang, slowing down as Era herself began to stop running. "Hop on aboard, we were going to pick you up anyway."

"We?" Era replied confused. She remembered Lucas was coming along with them but she didn't see him. As if by trigger from thought, Lucas slowly appeared from under the passenger seat with a cheesy grin on his face. Era didn't really feel like laughing, but didn't want to frown either, so she scoffed a little as she gave a silly smile back at him.

"We didn't want you to run all the way to the station after what you went through today." He said thoughtfully. Era felt honored.

"Well, I had a long nap." Era replied. Natasha poked the surface of the door with a purple polished nail.

"We heard. I called your house phone earlier and your dad said that you were asleep. We didn't want to bother you, but now we have to take action."

"What action?" Era asked. A dark cloud moved quickly across the sky from the window as the moon was no longer in hiding from it. The bright moonlight hit the street with a farther shine than most of the lined-up lampposts.

"We're going to see Ansem The Wise. Right now."

"Wait, right _now_!? I didn't know that we were ALL in this!" Era replied in slight shock.

"Well, _duh_. We all want Renee back and we all want to know what that creature was that attacked her hard enough to knock her into a coma." Lucas replied.

"But the laboratory is so far away! Couldn't we have picked sometime early during the day?"

"Aren't you anxious to know more about those things that are lurking around as we speak?" Natasha pointed out. To be honest, the long nap Era had kind of temporarily lowered her interest, but it would come back soon; and she had a feeling the time would come closer than she thought. "If you won't go, we won't."

"But don't you want to?" Era asked a little more puzzled.

"Well, yeah, we planned this out ourselves remember? Of course we'd want to check this place out." Lucas replied a little sarcastically.

"Don't be absurd! You just can't have your trip canceled just because I don't want to go."

"Era, just get your ass in the car so we can be on our way." Natasha said with a few chuckles. Era gave in and climbed into the passenger seat. The moment the door closed and when she clicked her seatbelt on, the car began to move like the wind (despite that there wasn't any at the time). It was a little bit chilly outside so Natasha had her windows closed in the car.

"So how long do you think it'll take to get to Ansem's lab?"

"At seventy-five miles an hour in this car, it should be about forty-five minutes until we get there." Natasha replied. Era especially replied because she wasn't much of a mathematician unlike most of her friends. Renee happened to be one of the smart ones in her little friend tree. Just hearing about her going into a coma made her realize how much it would hurt to lose any of her friends.

"Want one?" Lucas turned to ask Era. Era looked up to see that he was offering her a cigarette, and she took it and smiled in reply.

"Thanks." She replied. She wasn't really in the mood for anything except talking to Isa at the moment. She looked out the window glumly but saw from the corner of her eye that Lucas held a lighter underneath her cig. She didn't really feel like smoking it at the moment, but almost by automatic instinct, she put it in her mouth and sucked long and hard. She could feel the strong burn in her mouth from the toxic fog in her mouth, and it calmed her down a little. She wasn't much of a smoker. It was only on occasions that she felt she really needed one that she'd take one or two. Unlike most of the heavy smokers in the world, she wasn't easily addicted to it. In fact, as much as it seemed to calm her nerves, her thoughts still seemed very dead. Now would be a perfect time to hear or see something that would lighten up her spirits a little.

"Don't worry~" She heard Natasha's voice say from the front. Looking at the adjustable mirror, she saw Natasha smirking at her, fluffing a bit of her hair over her shoulders. "This will all probably be solved before you know it."

"I wish I could believe you." Era replied. She blew the smoke out of her mouth as it had spread to every open spot in the air, then took another drag.

"Well you have to look at the positives in every bad situation. That's what one of my closest friends told me." Lucas replied. Natasha giggled quietly.

"You mean your mom." She replied to him. Lucas gave a silly grin and shook his head as if he were in pity.

"Well that makes what I'm saying less convincing."

"Aww, Lucas, you don't think your mother is convincing?" Era just had to reply. Lucas made a popping sound with his mouth.

"Nuh-uh, unfortunately. I really can't wait to get out of that hell-hole that they call a house."

"Wow, that's exactly how I felt when I first moved here." Era blinked. Natasha was sucking on a popsicle that she somehow stored secretly.

"How do you feel now? I mean, I know it's been like what, seven years since you moved here? But still, I want to know."

Even Rexa wanted to know how her somebody felt currently about all of the years she's lived in the town. When she had the flashback, her younger self didn't take the move-in very great, but what if Era's been secretly miserable ever since?

"I love it here now. Well, thanks to you guys." Era replied smiling, but Rexa could tell she was feeling uneasy. It actually made her a little suspicious of Era's true feelings; even if she was walking in her shoes, not even she could understand some of her thoughts.

"Aww, I'm flattered-" Lucas started out, but with a sudden halt from the car, everyone was startled and let their guard down. "Whoa! What the f-"

"Dude, look!" Natasha said as she pointed out something in front of a car. She turned on the front lights so the three of them could get a better look. It was a cadaver in the middle of the street, and they could tell it was fresh from the excruciating smell that went through the windows. Era's first instinct was to cover her nose.

"Oh, jeez!" Lucas cried out with a grimace. "Running into that thing was NOT part of the plan, Natasha!"

"No shit, Lucas!" Natasha yelled back. She turned her head to check on Era. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Era said with her hand over her nose. "Not exactly what I was prepared for though..."

"Let's take another route."

"_Please_ do." Lucas replied bluntly. The car backed up away from the rotting animal carcass as it took a right turn. After they were a few yards away from the vulgar smelling intersection, everyone was greeted with fresh air.

"What _was _that?" Era asked.

"Girl, I didn't even know. It was something gross, that's all I know." Natasha replied, throwing back a bit of her hair.

"Let's try and forget about it." Lucas said then. Everything was quiet after that, very quiet. Era could fall asleep again from how smooth the road was and how silent it was, but after the long nap she had before, she was too anxious to go back asleep. But it seemed like it would be a long trip before they made it to Ansem's laboratory, so she decided to use her time wisely as her body pleaded.

* * *

"Era, wake up." Lucas's voice jumped in as Era slowly went back to reality. It was a little hard to cooperate, so he had to give her a little shake to awaken her some more. It worked, and Era's eyes opened to see Lucas's goofy grin over her head.

"Are we there yet...?" Era yawned, turning her head to see that Natasha was out of the car too. She felt like a baby that the two had to go easy on.

"Yes, we're at the subway. Sorry if we confused you about whether we were going here or to the lab head on."

"No worries." Era replied. She got up from her slightly tilted position and out of the car.

"You got everything with you?" Natasha asked from the other side of the Mustang.

"All I brought was my cell phone." Era replied. She took it out to see what time it was. It was fifty minutes past eight, which confused her even more. "Wait, how long was the drive here?"

"Well, it would be short, but after the run in on the corpse and...something else, our trip got a little bit delayed."

"What else did we run into? I was asleep."

"We noticed." Lucas cut in. "You sleep like you're dead. But you wouldn't believe it. The thing we drove into tried to thrash us for quite a while, and you slept through the whole thing. A passerby had to come over and trap it with a metal box."

"What did it look like?" Era asked curiously. She glanced over at Natasha, who looked like she was nervous about answering.

"I think...it was a bigger version of what attacked Renee." She started. Era's heart skipped a beat or two. "Like a walking shadow. Black figure with glowing gold eyes. It was about as tall as this car."

"Suddenly I wished I had never asked."

"Its not a good time to get gloomy right now, Era. Lets go inside." Lucas said as he walked up to her so they'd be side by side. The trio began to move up the steps inside the subway building. Era began to wonder if her parents were home already. They did say that they'd make it home late, but if she was to be in the same boat, it wouldn't be a very great situation; since she forgot to leave a note of her own on the fridge next to theirs, but she just figured that she could text them later, and hopefully they'd know early that she was out of the house.

"Say, do your parents know that you two are out?" She asked out of curiosity.

"Yeah, but we didn't tell them where we were going." Natasha answered. "What about yours?"

"They don't know anything. They're out of the house right now -at least I hope- and they left a note saying that they'd be back late. But what if they're home before I am?"

"Weellll, has something like that happened before?" Lucas asked her then.

"Nope."

"Then we have no idea what to expect if such a thing happens. But like I said, just think of the positives and things should go fine, period."

"I'm going to go and see if they have our destination." Natasha said, then she walked over to the counter leaving Era and Lucas to do nothing but wait. Era thought it would be a perfect opportunity to go and try to call Isa again.

"I'll be back, Lucas. Have to use the restroom."

"No one's stopping you." Lucas teased. Era laughed before she quickly walked into the restroom. There was only one person inside in an occupied stall, but Era was sure that whoever it was probably wouldn't care about her problems. She pulled out her cell phone and pressed the speed dial button to try and get into contact with Isa again. The ring tone then sounded through her phone as she waited patiently. The second tone sounded through, and then the third. For some reason the phone stalled before the fourth tone sounded. Once again, no answer OR voicemail. The same bot lady that said that the phone might have changed it's number or no longer has service. What was going on? Rexa began to wonder about this also, despite that the condition that she was in now, she didn't know Isa very well. She even wondered if the sudden disconnection had anything to do with the dream Era had before. A slow opening of the restroom door interrupted the thought. Natasha had slowly poked her head through as if she were looking for someone, mainly Era.

"Everything okay in here?" She asked as if she were a perky mother.

"Isa still won't answer." Era replied, shutting her phone off and checking herself out in the mirror. She looked like she hasn't gotten enough sleep at all.

"Maybe something came up." Natasha replied. "But either way, it's not the end of the world. I got the tickets, and our subway train should arrive in 20 minutes or so."

"Thanks." Era replied quietly. They both left the restroom to be back with Lucas, who was staring through the window. The clock above them read **9:10**. Now that she was reminded of it, she wanted to stand outside for a little while. "Say, I want to stand outside for a little bit."

"Go ahead." Natasha replied. "Don't forget your jacket."

Era didn't. She walked over to grab her coat on the way to the side exit. When she walked out, she noticed that there was a huge ditch, but when she walked forward to get closer, she realized that it was more than a ditch. It was a giant crevice, possibly bottomless. She even wondered if people possibly fell into it before since she rarely watched the news. Hell, she even wondered if there was anything living down there; she wouldn't attempt to find out. It did seem unusually cold outside, since it didn't feel as cold when the three of them first arrived at the station. A gust of wind blew through her spot out of nowhere, so it did make Era turn around a little bit to see if anything unusual just occurred. Era didn't see anything at first, but after staring at the same spot for a long while, she noticed someone. Her vision came to focus and to her surprise, it was the same man that she saw in her dream; the hooded figure.

"You - you were in my dream!" Era shouted. The hooded figure walked closer to her.

"You have a good memory. Back then I was told that you couldn't even remember your mom's name."

"Who are you? How did you appear in my dream!?"

"I have no right to tell you my name." The man said. He tilted his head up a little, and Era could see his eyes. They were a light golden color, and were very sharp. Anyone could notice that is something that could stick out the most out of everything else. "What you're doing is very foolish."

"What? Looking in this crevice?" Era said, glancing back down at the long bottomless pit. The man chuckled at her guess.

"No. The purpose of you coming here. You're going to meet Ansem."

The fact that he knew what Era and her friends were planning to do made her spine tingle a bit, a feeling she'd get when she felt like she was being stalked.

"You...were following us?" Era turned back around to face the man, who was walking towards her again, but she backed away in reply. "What do you fucking want from me!?"

"The same thing I've wanted ever since the day we started talking." He replied. He stood right in front of Era at this point since she gave up on the backing away, and he lowered his head so that she could see his enshadowed face. The eyes looked sharply down at her again. "_To meet you_."

"Era? Era!" Natasha shouted from the far entrance of the subway station. "You should come in now! It'll be less than five minutes when our train arrives!" She started to walk towards Era and the man, who Natasha had a face that looked like she didn't give a crap about who he was. She halted when she was about ten feet away. "Come on. We don't want to leave without you."

"Tell this guy to leave me alone first!" Era shouted and turned to where the man stood, but to her unusual surprise he was no longer there. Natasha also looked puzzled.

"What guy?"

"This guy appeared not too long after I went out here. What was odd was that he was in my dream too, and he tells me things that make me feel like I'm going through the after effects of ecstasy!"

"Era, I have no idea what you're talking about. I glanced at you like, every ten seconds and you were alone the whole time. I didn't see anyone with you."

"Wait...what?" Era asked. Natasha gave her a look as if she's gone mad.

"Wow...Era, this really isn't a good time to discuss it. We have to go back to the station, and Lucas is waiting for us. Lets get moving." She took the confused blonde gently by the hand and both of them started walking back to the station, but to be honest with herself, being late for the train was the least of Era's worries. Only one question was going through her thoughts right now, and Rexa was thinking the exact same thing.

_She didn't...see him?_


	6. Guarded Trove

_Previously on **t h e l i f e l e s s l e e c h**:_

"_We heard. I called your house phone earlier and your dad said that you were asleep. We didn't want to bother you, but now we have to take action." _

_"What action?" _

_"We're going to see Ansem The Wise. Right now." _

_**xxx**_

_"Aww, Lucas, you don't think your mother is convincing?" _

_"Nuh-uh, unfortunately. I really can't wait to get out of that hell-hole that they call a house." _

_"Wow, that's exactly how I felt when I first moved here." _

_"How do you feel now? I mean, I know it's been like what, seven years since you moved here? But still, I want to know." _

_"I love it here now. Well, thanks to you guys."_

_**xxx**_

_"You sleep like you're dead. But you wouldn't believe it. The thing we drove into tried to thrash us for quite a while, and you slept through the whole thing. A passerby had to come over and trap it with a metal box." _

_"What did it look like?"_

_"I think...it was a bigger version of what attacked Renee. Like a walking shadow. Black figure with glowing gold eyes. It was about as tall as this car." _

_"Suddenly I wished I had never asked."_

_**xxx**_

_"You...were following us? What do you fucking want from me!?" _

_"The same thing I've wanted ever since the day we started talking. **To meet you**." _

_

* * *

_

Natasha was right when she said that the train would arrive very soon, because it was just loading by the time she and Era walked back in. At 9:30 PM, they got onboard the subway train, about to claim what they came out for. Era had never been on a subway train before, and she thought that so far that it seemed comfortable enough to ride in. The aisle and seats were a sand color and the windows were very clear and outlined with what looked like platinum rings. The seats had designed cotton covers on them so that people would be able to sit of a soft surface. From all that Era has seen today, she wasn't sure if she was able to stay awake at all until the next day.

"Wow, Natasha. Did you get us first class or something?" She asked a little impressed by the way the inside of the train was designed. Natasha failed to hold in a chuckle.

"You think _this _is first class?"

"Well, Tash, she's never been on a train before, remember?" Lucas cut in, pointing it out to her as if she likes to jump to conclusions.

"Oh yeah. But still, I figured that someone like you could picture what first class in any transportation would be like."

"I'm not much of a city girl." Era stated. Since there were only two seats on each side per row, Lucas had to sit behind the two girls. The three of them patiently waited as the rest of the remaining passengers went onboard to take their seats while Era checked to see if anything came up on her phone. She had received a text message about a minute ago from an unknown ID, but when she read the text her heart had skipped a beat.

**Please be careful**

_**~ Isa.**_

"What's the matter?" Natasha asked, leaning towards Era to read the text. From that point, Era didn't have to tell her what was up. "Whoa, what happened to his old number?"

"I really don't know." Era replied. "If he texted me from this number, maybe I can call him through it."

"What do you think that text meant anyway?"

"Maybe he's just worried about me."

"But why? You couldn't contact him before, so he can't know what we're doing tonight." Natasha pointed out. "The way I see it, despite that its only three words, he sounds a little concerned."

Era could hear a chewing sound from behind and smelled a pineapple smell roaming around her side not too long after, then knowing that Lucas was eating some kind of pineapple flavored sweet and that he was leaning right above her.

"What do you both mean?" He asked curiously. Era raised her arm over her head so that he could examine her phone.

"Read this text." She told him. He examined it silently for about twenty seconds before closing his eyes and resting his chin on his fingers in even more concentration.

"Well, Lucas, do you get it?" Natasha asked. He double taked on the two ladies while glancing up at the ceiling all the while, as if he lost his train of thought constantly.

"You see...there are many meanings to sayings like-" Lucas started off. There was suddenly an enormous banging on the subway, making all of the passengers awake and alert. "-What was that?"

"I don't know." Era replied quietly. She wanted to sink into the chair but was too stunned by the sudden shakes of the train.

"Think maybe it was a gap in the tracks?" Natasha said then. Lucas couldn't help but give a grin to that guess.

"Tasha, all of the tracks in this tunnel should be perfectly aligned. I never heard of train tracks with a gap-"

An even louder bang shook the train, sounding like a cannon ball just landed on them, turning everyone's shock to tension. After a few seconds, Era could feel that the train was coming to a slow halt. She had an urge to raise herself up a little and peek through the window, but at that moment she was frozen in place. After a moment of silence (in herself) she rose up to see most of the side lights on outside of the train, and if she looked very hard to her side, she could see that there was smoke seen around the front; commotion grew louder as other people saw the damage as well, and they had a reason to be scared.

"What just happened?!" Lucas asked. He looked like he was recovering from anxiety.

"We don't know. Something hit us, part of the train had burst, or we crashed into something." Natasha guessed.

"Should we go see what happened?"

"Now why would you even _think _to do that?" Era then cut in, finally finding her voice. Whatever caused the blast to occur on the train, she honestly didn't want to know what it was. She wanted to sit still until the conductor makes an announcement, but it seemed to be taking a while.

"You scared, Era?" Natasha softly asked.

"Well, I'd be surprised if anyone on this goddamn subway wasn't." Era replied.

"You both want to come with me to see what happened outside?" Lucas then asked, standing up from his seat.

"I want to stay here...where it's safe." Era replied quietly. Lucas could possibly tell that she wasn't kidding around, but he still seemed eager to go out.

"Maybe the engine broke down." Natasha guessed again.

"What engine makes a giant sonic boom noise when it breaks down?" Lucas replied. He headed towards the aisle. "I'm going on ahead. You two can stay here if you'd like." And he began to walk towards the door. Natasha stood and leaned over as if she were about to look after him.

"I think I should keep an eye on him." Natasha said to Era. She reached into her bag and pulled out a small teal flashlight. "You want to be here alone?"

Era could only nod yes in reply. As Natasha then followed Lucas, she sunk a little low into her seat. She just wanted to go to fall asleep and go pass all of the drama so that if she woke up, everything would return to normal. But what if she were to miss something urgent? She brought her legs up so that she could hug her knees. At this moment, she felt slightly helpless. She has already became a legal adult, yet she felt so weird from needing so much comfort from her friends, even if it seemed normal; she hated feeling like the fragile one of the town, but she hated to admit it even more. From a distance, she could have sworn she heard the conductor yelling something, and after a few seconds, a low growl around the same distant tone.

_"What is that...!?" _The conductor said unseen and afar. Era wondered what he was talking about, but at the same time didn't want to know. Because whenever she hears about something someone's never heard of, it's most likely to be a Heartless. Rexa could agree with her thoughts. She didn't know anything else that could make the train stop easily unless the tunnels were being bombed for some pompous reason. _"H-Hey! What the hell are you kids doing!?"_

Was he talking to Lucas and Natasha? Of course he was. Era rose a little bit from the seat to peek through her window, but couldn't see anything. She could only hear noise. Someone tapped her back and she turned around to see an old man behind her that looked troubled.

"Are those your friends out there?" He asked a with a slightly shaky voice.

"I...think so. I'm not sure if they're the ones that the conductor is yelling at." Era replied quietly. Another stranger, a lady, joined in with the elderly man.

"Well, I didn't see any other kids go outside unless they were onboard a different car than this. Shouldn't you try to be bringing them back?"

"They told me to stay here...and I'm a little frightened anyway." Era replied. She looked back through the window, everything was still the way it was.

"Well it sounds like something's out there." The old man said. "If I were you, I'd just check to make sure they're okay."

As if it were a trigger, another unusual cry was heard outside the train.

"I'm just going to check through the door. That's it." With that, Era got up from her slouched position from the chair, her heartbeat going up by a pinch once she stood up straight. She felt curious and anxious eyes staring at her from behind her back as she walked casually down the aisle towards the closest double-doors. It was already opened a crack and the air coming in from it smelled of dry dust and toxic bog. _The engine did this?! _She nearly thought out loud. Blocking out second thoughts, she pushed her way through the doors, closing them behind her immediately so the other passengers couldn't possibly suffocate. The subway had let off so much bog that she couldn't see anything below her ankle, but it also stung a little to try and keep her eyes open. Before anything else could happen, she heard a female voice cry out from the other side of the train.

_"What are you doing...!?!" _

_"Get back...!" _Another voice shrieked. Was it Natasha and Lucas?

Era forced herself to run over to the front of the train and tried to listen closer as she pressed her back against the head of the train.

_"How are we going to get out of here?"_

_"I don't know, call the fucking cops maybe!?" _

_"We can't when this thing won't stop attacking us!" _

_They're being attacked?! _

Era edged closer towards the side so see if she could at least peak at what was happening, but her foot had bumped something when she tried to take a step. Looking down to see what her foot nudged, she wished that she hadn't looked down at all. A man's head, possibly the conductor's, stuck out from underneath the train while the rest of his body was underneath. He stared death into Era's eyes motionlessly as she could see a few stains of blood on his neck and possibly on the rest of his attire. Era pushed the image out of sight and out of mind as she forced herself to glance over at the other side of the train. She'd have to settle this situation soon since the fumes were really getting to her. She didn't see anything at first, but a shadowed figure jumped close with his back turned, startling her. The shadow turned around in the same amount of surprise.

"Era!?" Lucas gaped in disbelief. "Why aren't you inside!?"

"Because I want to know what's out there trying to kill you guys!" Era yelled back as if the question was stupid.

"Era-" Lucas said. He looked as if he didn't know what to say to her that would solve everything. "How are we supposed to get out of here?"

Not even Era knew the answer. Without an conductor, a new engine, or safety from whatever was out there, she felt as though there was no longer hope. Even Rexa didn't see how they could make it out, and she even wondered if she was looking at the part where she lost her heart, but something felt missing in the situation, and it seemed a little too early to be an empty shell at that moment. Something told her...this wasn't Era's end.

Era suddenly heard Natasha cry out and then grunt as if she was trying to hit something. Moving over from the front of the train to check on her, the bog didn't settle, but it was clear enough to see that something had a major grudge against her friend. She suddenly gave out a hard blow to the unknown creature and it gave out a loud shriek, giving Natasha a chance to run to the other two friends.

"...Era!? What are you doing out here?!" She nearly whispered. Era looked over her shoulder with a grimace to see what was trying to attack them.

"I could hear you guys from inside the subway. I was worried, as well as the other passengers. Some urged me to come out and help you guys."

"All we can hope now is that the thing is dead." Natasha replied. All three looked towards where it seemed to last stand. "Lucas and I have done all we can to try and fight it off, but it keeps ticking."

They keep staring at the spot, where they could no longer see or hear the creature. Era had guessed that it had disappeared, and she had realized a strange pattern. Whenever anyone is encountered by the fiend, they only retreat when she seems to come around, as if she's a threat. Was there something about her that she didn't know? Rexa knew what it was. Era glanced at her friends and caught a glimpse of something that shocked her. The back of Natasha's shirt was almost entirely ripped, and deep cuts had ran through spots of her back.

"Oh my God, Natasha, what happened to you?!" Era asked as she ran behind Natasha to get a closer look of her back. The fleshly wound had made her stomach churn slightly.

"That thing could pick a fight alright." Natasha replied as if she hasn't been hurt at all.

"Doesn't that hurt you?" Lucas cut in, checking out the damage as well.

"Guys, its no big deal. I have bandages and some cleaning alcohol with me in the bag of the train. I can fix myself up in the restroom." She looked towards the door to the inside of the subway. "Everything looks better now anyway."

Era didn't know what she meant at first, but then she realized that the bog wasn't there anymore, and neither was the intoxicating smell of the broken engine. It was almost as though the fiend was the source of it all. The subway had suddenly hissed some exhaust out of its side pipes, giving the trio a clue that it might work again.

"I don't know how it happened. But either way, we should get back inside." Natasha said. Despite her confident talking, she was actually a step behind her other two companions when they began to walk in.

"Tasha, you're slugging a bit. You sure you're okay?" Lucas asked with a concerned tone.

"I told you, I'll be fine." Natasha replied. It was as if the back cuts were nothing more than a splinter. Lucas and Era had paused in confusion for a moment as their injured friend got in first, some of her black strands sticking to the bloody wounds, making her look beat. The restroom, to her luck, was just diagonally across from the exit, and Natasha went inside without glancing at the other passengers who stared in awe as the other two slowly walked back to their seats.

"I heard...a hissing sound." A little girl said, standing on her seat. "Is the train moving again?"

"I hope so." Era replied. She sat back down on the cotton seat as Lucas sat right back behind her, waiting a little anxiously for Natasha to come out as well as she sounds. Another hiss blew out from the train, as well as its horn.

"How is it doing that if the engine's broken?" Another confused passenger asked. A few other questions seemed to echo through the aisle.

_"Where did that other chick go?"_

_"What was the thing that attacked us??"_

_"Where's the conductor?"_

_"Why don't you ask her? She seems to be the other person that witnessed it all." _

More questions. Era wasn't in the mood for talking right now, and she figured that Lucas wasn't either. She just waited for a miracle to happen. Something that would bring everyone to safety and answer their questions. Everything nowadays seems to be all about questions. Why won't they stop? Era was so tired that she actually fell back asleep while in the midst of trying to find answers to her wonders as the subway gave one last hiss before it started to slowly pace forward on the tracks.


	7. Stagnant Space

_Previously on **t h e l i f e l e s s l e e c h**:_

_"What's the matter? Whoa, what happened to his old phone number?"_

_"I really don't know. If he texted me through this number, maybe I can call him through it."_

_"What do you think the text meant anyway?"_

_"Maybe he's just worried about me." _

**xxx**

_"You both want to come with me to see what happened outside?"_

_"I want to stay here...where it's safe."_

**xxx**

_"Era!? Why aren't you inside?!"_

_"Because I want to know what's out there trying to kill you guys!"_

_"Era -...how do we get out of here?" _

**xxx**

_"Oh my God, Natasha, what happened to you?!" _

_"That thing could pick a fight alright." _

_"Doesn't that hurt you?" _

_"Guys, its no big deal. I have bandages and some cleaning alcohol with me in the bag of the train. I can fix myself up in the restroom. Everything looks better now anyway." _

* * *

_**Day 3**_

The rest of the subway trip was quiet. Era checked the time to see that it was past midnight. After Natasha had took care of her back damage, she had sat back down with Era; not questioning if there was a new conductor onboard or not. At the moment, both Lucas and Natasha were asleep in their seat. _I'd be dead asleep too if I went through what happened to them..._Rexa thought, and Era clearly thought the same thing. The tunnel they traveled in was dark, but for some unusual reason, everyone could tell it was late night. It was almost eleven thirty by the time the train assault ended. At this moment, the only thing Era wondered was if her parents knew she was out. It was getting a little late, and she had nothing new received on her cell phone. Era glanced at Natasha warily. She knew that Natasha had high pain tolerance, but it would seem like anyone would be in deep pain from cuts that deep anywhere on their body, and yet Tasha treated it nothing more like a splinter; it almost seemed too casual. She planned that once the train stopped and both of her friends woke up, she would ask one more time how they _really _felt. Era herself woke up because of a sudden gap in between the tracks, and it shook the train a little. It was about forty five minutes since she last fell asleep, which was right after the train breakage situation, and she finally wondered when the train would make it to the next station. Constantly during the trip, she would slip in and out of sleep, she figured that her body would hate her for the constant lack of the desired amount of sleep, and she has been getting an unusual pattern throughout the entire day. In an instant, Era fell back asleep, and something happened that Rexa didn't even figure would happen. Her vision was of nothingness. Just a void, either that or that was what Era was dreaming of; nothing. But Rexa stood in the middle of it all alone, and she wondered if it meant something. She predicted that one of the members of the Organization would have separated time to talk to her again, but it took a while for anything to become a response to Rexa's curiosity.

Despite that there was no one around but her, she began to hear voices. When she covered her ears with her hands, things didn't become any quieter, making her realize the voices were in her head; a little bit similar to the experience she had right after Xemnas had vanished with her and before she found herself in Castle Oblivion. It was only one voice however, and it didn't appear to sound familiar, or discomforting.

_Your other self has gone to a snooze._

_So its time for a little warning, or foretelling news. _

Sounded a lot like something that you'd hear in a poem, but despite its tone, Rexa figured that it was something worth listening to.

_After she awakens, _

_the images you'll soon see you'll be desperate to forsaken._

_Perplexity, bereavement, and affliction_

_Now which of the three shall give the most attention? _

Rexa knew she didn't have to answer that. She was just be forewarned that as she continues to view her past, she would be looking at things even more vindictive than she possibly hoped. She wondered if she spoke out loud, the voice would reply to her.

"Say, can you give me a hint of whatever the three events may be?"

It was silent for a moment, but then a little blue ball of light dimly floated in front of her, and she figured that the voice might come from the light from now on instead of her head, but she was wrong.

_Camaraderie._

_The condition your acquaintances are in has made your former heart weary. _

_Why not mull over their providence?_

_So that your fortification could make sense. _

This meant that something would possibly happen to Natasha and Lucas, and maybe Renee. She was actually shocked that ever since Era left home, she hasn't thought substantially about Renee. She speculated about her coma, and when she would wake up. The little creature that attacked her; a larger version of it had previously damaged the train until it vanished. How could they be so powerful? Apparently there was nothing left to say in the conversation since the little blue light suddenly went dim, but in a flash it brightened again, lighting the entire scene, so there was nothing but white; Rexa couldn't even see herself anymore. Suddenly she felt something come into focus. Hands were shaking her by the shoulders lightly, and she began to get her sense of hearing back. Someone was calling her name -actually, her other name as the scene came into view slowly. Era blinked multiple times to get her vision just right to see that Natasha was nearly on top of her trying to wake her up, but she didn't seem concerned in anyway, but she easily knew why she was woken up.

"Era," Natasha started. "Our stop is next. Get your stuff ready."

* * *

The train hissed once more as the passengers took their time to walk off. The station that they stopped at seemed a little smaller than the one they left, so everything seemed simple for a start. Natasha had tied her hair back in a bun with a couple of strands loose from the grip, showing the back of her neck. There was a scar there too, and to dismay, it was almost completely across her tattoo. She had gotten it two years ago, and it was of a black snake coiled around a purple diamond. Anyone who didn't know any better would have thought that the scar looked good with the ink, but it seemed like the least of Natasha's worries. As for Lucas, he didn't look any better. There were was looked like multiple burns around the side of his neck, and there were welts on his upper hip; you could tell because there was a large tear on the side of his shirt, which exposed his side. As much as Era witnessed only half of it, she looked completely clean without a scratch; hell, she didn't even take a smack, and she felt that it was unfair for her friends to take the damage.

"So...where to now? Are we taking a taxi or something?" Lucas asked curiously.

"From the map I checked at home, Ansem's headquarters aren't too far from here. I think that we can manage to walk from here." Natasha explained. Era sighed a little.

"Not that we have a car to drive anyway..."

The trio stepped out of the station to find a couple of different roads that led either to the same place or another (to their guess). Lucas and Era then turned to Tasha once more for directions.

"The road on the farthest right." She pointed her finger to indicate a very narrow road. "That's the way we're supposed to take."

Lucas could only nod in agreement, and so did Era. What they didn't know couldn't apply anyhow. Era didn't think much about what was going on at home, but at the point she just realized something; which could have been the least of worries to her other two companions.

"The parents back at home probably don't know anyone of us are gone. Who're they going to get to watch the kids at that one island?"

Natasha slowed her pace a little and glanced wide eyed at Era. "Whoa, actually I hadn't thought about that either until you mentioned it."

"But we left at night, and it just turned morning, we'll probably have time to get all of this straight and get back home before sunrise." Lucas cut in.

"Yes, but our parents don't know either, and they don't wait for babysitters to check in. They wait for their kids to come home. Now how do you suppose they wait for us when they don't even know we're gone in the first place? My parents are probably on their way home now." Era said. She didn't realize that midway, her tone had risen just a little, and it surprised her a little. From the look on the other two's faces, she could tell they were baffled too.

"If they found out you were gone, they'd call your cell to find out where you are." Natasha said with a calm voice.

"And what do I tell them?" Era then said. At this point, Lucas looked more clueless than before.

"Well..." He started. "Maybe you could tell them that you had to go to a night shift of taking care of the kids, since their parents aren't home."

"What good parent would have the mind to let their kids play outside at _midnight_ on an island that's like, miles away from town?!" Era pointed in. As much as Lucas wanted to give her an excuse for real, it was a pretty fucked up excuse; to her at least. Everyone knew that the parents in the town always worked around morning and mid-day; if they worked at night, they probably didn't have kids or they did have kids that were old enough to their approval to stay in the house alone. The three picked up their pace once more, figuring they should do things a little more quicker since Era seemed more tense than usual. Things got quiet for a moment but then Natasha broke the silence.

"Do you think they'd approve of us going to Ansem's lab if we really told them?"

"They'll probably think it's absurd to visit a scientist in the middle of the night." Era replied.

"But they don't know what time we left. We could tell them that we left around daybreak and the trains got delayed."

"I guess that's an idea." Lucas cut in. Natasha scoffed and grinned to the side.

"Better than yours, that's all I know." This caused all three of them to laugh, knowing that they might as well entertain themselves for the rest of the walk to their destination.

* * *

Rexa's motionless body lied on a white bed that was in her designated room. On top of her was what seemed like a vivid flash show of what was going on in her flashback currently, and three of the Organization's members stood there watching; as the others could watch in different locations of the castle. Marluxia stared in slight amusement at the screen as Axel and Larxene stood partly behind him, watching from a little bit afar. Axel's face was blank, but he looked as if he was attempting to hide a smile. Larxene was shifting moods from amused to apathetic from time to time, and she was the first to break the silence.

"This chick's past is a little unusual for my taste." She said, shaking her two back-bangs farther behind her. "And her friends too. I'd want to hurt that other girl until she screams for once. She's ignoring the pain that the heartless caused her."

"And -Lucas was it?- I don't know about you two, but he seems to have a thing for both of them." Axel cut in.

"By the way, Marluxia. That warning you sent her earlier, why was it all...you know, rhyming like? You sounded like a poet, despite that she didn't know it was you." Larxene then asked. Marluxia barely tilted his head to the side, indicating that he was listening, but was still watching the screen and sometimes glanced at the motionless girl underneath it.

"It doesn't matter how I sent the message, as long as she got it." His eyes narrowed down to stare at Rexa. "She will see more than she's prepared for, that's for sure."

"Think she'll want to talk more about this when she wakes up. From what you make it sound like, it'll seem like she'll be scarred once this is over." Axel put his hands on his hips and leaned forward a bit to let more of his voice be heard.

"Just like the rest of us, she will have to get over what's already been done. In order to do this, she will have to discuss it with us." Marluxia replied calmly.

"Hmm...I always questioned her other half's presence around the heartless. When she's around, they disappear. Why is that, Marluxia?"

"The Heartless know her future, and give her a moment's rest. But that won't last forever, I'm afraid."

Axel and Larxene looked at each other in bewilderment while Marluxia closed his eyes for a moment as if he were trying to figure something else out himself. This nobody was just born and yet he already knew what her past life was beforehand. As the flashback approached its end, he knew things would start to get vulgar.

* * *

"You think we're close?" The trio stopped momentarily to look ahead of their path. Not too far out, they saw what looked like the shadows of a couple of buildings, and they wondered if they were near another city or the lab itself. Lucas stroked his chin with a few of his fingers as he thought deeply.

"We have to be. Those are the only source of buildings that we found so far. The lab's got to be in that area somewhere."

They started walking again, but Era realized that there were a few beats of footsteps behind after a second. Turning around, she saw that Natasha hasn't moved, and she looked a little confused.

"Something wrong?" Lucas said, stopping his pace as well. It took a few seconds after for Natasha to reply.

"I feel dizzy." She said a with a low tone.

"When was the last time you ate?"

"No no, I'm not hungry..." Natasha replied, but then Era had a thought.

"Did you treat those cuts right? They could be infecting you right now."

"I've been in a lot of gruesome brawls, accidents, and other phenomenon. If I could treat myself alone during all of those times right, I think I got this one covered as well." She replied. The fact that she still ignored it still disturbed Era greatly.

"If you weren't feeling so good, you'd tell us, right?"

"Of course I would." Natasha said. Her voice seemed normal again and she looked ahead as if she were looking for the lab once more. Then she blinked as if she were dumbfounded, and then pulled out the tie from her ponytail to let the hair loose. It must have been weighing her head down. "I'm okay now. Lets keep going."

Era and Lucas glanced at each other for a brief moment with concerned looks, knowing for real that there was something wrong with Natasha. What if those scratches had side effects? They wouldn't want to risk letting her suffer, no matter how acute it seemed to her. At the point where they were walking, the buildings seemed a bit more clearer to see from the front, and it seemed they were only a kilometer or two away from their destination. Era noticed the group had a faster pace than before. She knew that she was eager to get there, and so were Tasha and Lucas, so then they sped things up a bit. When they were almost a quarter of the way towards the city, all three thought that they felt a sudden draft; and it came out of nowhere.

"Did you both feel that too?" Lucas asked, his arms around himself. The two girls could only nod yes in reply since the sudden cold had caught them off guard. Soon, Era was back on track and found her voice again.

"Where did that come from anyway?"

Natasha exhaled deeply. Apparently the draft had gotten the best of her as well. "I don't know, but it froze the living shit out of me. "

"We should probably move quickly." Era replied. If they kept moving, the draft effect would probably pass behind them, but Natasha made a bigger deal out of the chill than she did of her own damage. It was unusual, but Era let the thought slide for now. As soon as they made it to the city, they could probably rest up there before they actually went to meet Ansem; and probably some others. The closer they got to the city, the more unusual it seemed to look. There were a few neon lights seen from a distance, which meant that there must have been a few locals there, and oddly shaped chimney tops were seen and had a light sheen reflected from the moon's luminescence. The trio wasn't even inside the city yet, but they already seemed to see things out of the ordinary from where they stood. Era wondered how long this mission would take. She even still wondered if she'd be home by sunrise. She'd definitely wouldn't turn back; she couldn't anyway without her other two friend's help, and she knew that they were sure to deny her retreat. She knew from the very start that there'd be no turning back.


	8. Strong Initiative

_Previously on **t h e l i f e l e s s l e e c h**:_

_Your other self has gone to a snooze._

_So its time for a little warning, or foretelling news. _

_After she awakens, _

_The images you'll soon see you'll be desperate to forsaken._

_Perplexity, bereavement, and affliction_

_Now which of the three shall give the most attention? _

_"Say, can you give me a hint of whatever the three events may be?"_

_Camaraderie._

_The condition your acquaintances are in has made your former heart weary. _

_Why not mull over their providence?_

_So that your fortification could make sense. _

_**xxx**_

_"Yes, but our parents don't know either, and they don't wait for babysitters to check in. They wait for their kids to come home. Now how do you suppose they wait for us when they don't even know we're gone in the first place? My parents are probably on their way home now."_

_"If they found out you were gone, they'd call your cell to find out where you are." _

_"And what do I tell them?" _

_**xxx**_

_"By the way, Marluxia. That warning you sent her earlier, why was it all...you know, rhyming like? You sounded like a poet, despite that she didn't know it was you." _

_"It doesn't matter how I sent the message, as long as she got it. She will see more than she's prepared for, that's for sure."_

_"Think she'll want to talk more about this when she wakes up? From what you make it sound like, it'll seem like she'll be scarred once this is over." _

_"Just like the rest of us, she will have to get over what's already been done. In order to do this, she will have to discuss it with us." _

_"Hmm...I always questioned her other half's presence around the heartless. When she's around, they disappear. Why is that, Marluxia?" _

_"The Heartless know her future, and give her a moment's rest. But that won't last forever, I'm afraid." _

_**xxx**_

_"I've been in a lot of gruesome brawls, accidents, and other phenomenon. If I could treat myself alone during all of those times right, I think I got this one covered as well."_

_"If you weren't feeling so good, you'd tell us, right?"_

_"Of course I would. I'm okay now. Lets keep going." _

* * *

The city seemed a lot bigger from the inside than how it looked from the outside. The trio was right about the neon lights from afar. Up close, there were a few large signs either on rooftops or hanging on the side of buildings. Only a few people stood around different spots of certain areas, mostly teens, other than that, the city was practically empty right now; well, it was sleeping hours. Era stared in slight awe with her finger lain on her chin for no particular reason. Lucas was a step farther in front of the two girls, examining a bit more of the city. Cricket chirps echoed through the air as the trio gave one last moment to look around.

"It's quiet." Lucas said, breaking the silence.

"Well, it is past midnight." Natasha replied, sounding like she had just accredited the time a second ago.

"So then." Era started. "Where do we start looking?" This put the three of them in a moment of stillness. They had now reached the city that they had hoped to reach, but it was a little bit bigger than their hometown and there were many directions on where to look. Natasha wandered off to a nearby wooden sign that was accompanied by a few others, while Lucas had studied the place some more. Era stood her ground, wondering how close Ansem was in a city like this.

"Dude, there are like, no directions anywhere." Natasha called back from her spot. Scratching her scalp a little bit, she walked over someplace else. Lucas walked back to Era with an expression on his face that had publicized he was out of ideas.

"Well, we'll just have to start walking around till we find something good."

Era had remembered from their walk to the city that there was a very large building that stuck out the most out of most of them, but it wasn't like a skyscraper. It was enshadowed at the moment but was juggernaut in width and height, and Era figured it would be a good place to start looking; wherever it was.

"Hey guys, how about that really large building that we saw while we were on our way here?" She suggested.

"Which big building?" Natasha said, and not in a joking way.

"When we were looking at the silhouette of the building, there was this really large structure that stuck out the most out of the rest of the scenery."

The other two friends thought for a brief moment to see if they remember seeing what Era described, as much as it took longer than they thought it would to think about it, it would be better than nothing to check it out first; then the rest.

"I say we should check it out." Lucas chimed in. Natasha only nodded. Era noticed there were dark bags underneath her eyes. They were all exhausted, but she seemed the most tired. Once she noticed that Era seemed to be watching her for a while, she glanced somewhere else and gained back her usual posture.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" She asked. "Era, do you remember which direction it was?"

Era could have sworn she heard something do a soft animal cry from far behind her, but it wasn't anything her attention could go towards. "It was around the back of this city."

"Lets head off then."

Footsteps echoed through most of the empty spaces of air due to the fact that it was totally empty during this time of morning. Not too long after the trio started to move again, a slow but startling vibration started in Era's pocket. Since it was continuous, she knew that someone was calling her, and when she picked up her cell phone to look at the caller ID, she'd wished that she had left her cell at home. _**Mom **_was marked underneath the her home phone number, and Era hesitated.

"Who is it?" Natasha asked, suddenly right next to Era.

"It's my mom." Era said with a panicked tone. "What am I going to say?!"

"If you're that nervous about talking to her, don't answer at all." Lucas suggested. That would only make her parents suspicious, but she didn't feel now was the right time for talking. Pressing her OFF button, she slowly put her phone back into her pocket, still staring straight ahead of her as the three of them walked on forward.

* * *

"I wasn't expecting that." Larxene said with an after laugh. "Suddenly, I think this chick could be entertaining in a way."

The Organization was still watching Rexa's flashback. Marluxia left the room a little while back, while Vexen joined Axel and Larxene to see if anything was any different.

"Ignorant child. She has no idea what she'll be walking into." Vexen said with a grim smirk.

"Oh, so you know things ahead of time, do you?" Larxene asked him, half joking and half serious.

"Of course. But, I wouldn't want to spoil it for everyone else, now would I?"

Axel rolled his eyes to another direction, but then glanced back at Vexen in wonder. "Can you at least tell us what that building is that they're about to wander into?"

"Well..." Vexen started. "You could say it's the entrance to what they're looking for, but at the same time, an accident waiting to happen."

"I can hardly contain myself." Larxene said, voice filled with sarcasm; not because she was getting bored, but just to piss Vexen off.

"Oh can't you?" Vexen replied with a sneer. Nobody replied, let alone talked at all after that was said. If Marluxia was around, the result would most likely vary. But they all commenced their self-control and continued what they were supposed to do.

* * *

"Guys, do you think something's following us?" Era asked. The three of them stopped walking temporarily to look around, but saw nothing.

"I don't see anything. Why?" Lucas asked.

"Ever since we walked in this city, I heard this weird flutter over my head from time to time, and its always the same distance apart and at the same pace as we're walking."

The group then went quiet to listen closely to whatever Era heard. They all came to different conclusions when they heard a low-pitched whistle like cry not too close but not too far above them from a distance.

"What was that?" Natasha said, looking above her in all directions. That's when it sounded like something fell, from a high top at that. Era was the first to see that something was falling, right over her head.

"Whoa! What the-" Was all she could say before the mystery object thudded right on top of her. As small as it seemed, it seemed to easily weigh her down, and made her stumble a bit before face-planting the ground herself.

"What is that thing?" Natasha asked suspiciously yet awe-stricken at the same time.

"It can't be a Heartless." Lucas replied, his eyes widened in amazement. Era forced herself to sit up, making the thing roll off of her and onto the ground. When she looked over at it, she was just as confused as her other two friends. It had a very small and plump body and it was the same for the head. Its eyes were even smaller and looked like slits and had a big red nose, like a clown's. Over its head hung a just as big and red pom-pom, connected to its head but hanging high above its face. Two little purple wings were on its back, proving Era's guess that whatever was following them could fly.

"I don't know, but it seems harmless." Era reached her hand slowly towards the creature, but it cautiously back up away from it.

"You're not going to hurt it, are you?" Lucas chimed in.

"No, I was just going to see if it would let me examine it closely if I held it."

"That thing is smart to keep its distance." Natasha said. The other two glanced at her in surprise, and Natasha rethought her words. "Not that you're a threat, Era." She added in. They brought their attention back to the unknown species. "Should we take it with us?"

"I don't see why not? It's probably been in this place longer than we have." Lucas replied.

"Obviously." Era said. She stood up then and the thing looked up at her, standing up on its little legs as well. "Maybe it can lead us to Ansem."

"Is it that smart?" Lucas asked, slightly unbelieving what Era just said.

"Lets hope." Era lowered back down so that she was only a foot away from its actual height. "Can you lead us to Ansem?"

Apparently it was the source of the low whistle, because it made that sound in reply to Era's question. In an instant, it began to use its wings to lift itself up from the ground and high enough to look Era in the face, or the other two for that matter. After a long stare at the three, it turned around and began to fly away.

"We should follow it." The three then nearly power-walked to keep up with the flying speed of the mysterious creature, but to their surprise, they weren't too far away from the building they looked for when that ran into the species. It was about seventeen steps apart from where they last stopped their walk, and the building itself was even bigger up close. The arches in front of it looked like it went up through the clouds, if possible, and it was painted a maroon color, possibly darker. All three couldn't tell if it was a juggernaut sinister mansion or a castle, but the floating thing already flew through an open window it happened to find, leaving the other three having no choice but to go through the double doors in front of them.

"Well....we're here."


	9. Black Room

_Previously on __**t h e l i f e l e s s l e e c h**__:_

"_Dude, there are like, no directions anywhere."_

"_Well, we'll just have to start walking around till we find something good." _

_"Hey guys, how about that really large building that we saw while we were on our way here?"_

_"Which big building?" _

_"When we were looking at the silhouette of the building, there was this really large structure that stuck out the most out of the rest of the scenery." _

_"I say we should check it out."_

_**xxx**_

"_Who is it?"_

"_It's my mom. What am I going to say!?" _

"_If you're that nervous about talking to her, don't answer at all."_

_**xxx**_

_"Ignorant child. She has no idea what she'll be walking into."_

_"Oh, so you know things ahead of time, do you?" _

_"Of course. But, I wouldn't want to spoil it for everyone else, now would I?" _

_"Can you at least tell us what that building is that they're about to wander into?"_

_"Well...you could say it's the entrance to what they're looking for, but at the same time, an accident waiting to happen."_

_**xxx**_

_"Should we take it with us?" _

_"I don't see why not? It's probably been in this place longer than we have."_

_"Obviously. Maybe it can lead us to Ansem." _

_"Is it that smart?" _

_"Lets hope." _

* * *

A loud creak echoed as Era was the first to push the door open and step through. The area was dark, but a few bright lights appeared on most of the corners of the room to bring a little bit of shine to the path. Their shoes made a 'clank' sound as if they were walking on metal floors rather than marble, making it easier for anyone else that's possibly inside to hear. None of them could tell if it were a household residence or something else.

"You think maybe we should have knocked first?" Natasha asked.

"I'm not sure if anyone's here right now." Era replied.

"Exactly why we should have knocked."

From the tone in Natasha voice, she sounded a little bit uncomfortable in the building they were about to roam in. There were many stairways and doors they could all look through, but it would take a lot of time if they were to look all together.

"I think...we should split up, guys." Lucas said. "There are like, a shitload of doors we have to look through."

"I feel like I'm trespassing..." Natasha mumbled.

"That didn't stop you before. Why now?" Era thought out loud.

"I don't know. This place just gives me the creeps." She replied, looking up as she held her arm nervously. "I don't know why, but something tells me all of the sudden that we shouldn't be here."

"We should be fine. This town looks harmless. We didn't see anything dangerous, did we?"

"So far, no..."

"Era, I think I should go with Natasha." Lucas cut in. He stepped next to her and put one arm around her in attempt to comfort her.

"Alright then. It'll slow things down, but we do need Natasha to help us." Era approved. She looked around until she saw a metal rimmed door to her right side. Then she glanced over to doors that were a little darker upstairs, and figured out a plan.

"I'll look in the room where these doors lead." She pointed to the door to the right of her. "And you guys can start up in that room upstairs...is that alright?"

Both of them nodded. "Well...meet up with you later." Natasha replied. They then parted. Natasha and Lucas painstakingly went upstairs as Era walked over to the door. Not before putting her ear to it to listen if anything or anyone was there. All she could hear was a long sigh from what sounded like the air conditioning, and she could see a faint blue light going through the gap under the door. As she heard the door above her opening then closing, she turned the knob of her own door cautiously and opened the door only by a crack. Peeking through, she only saw a little part of the carpet and some designs in the wall she couldn't make out. She did see that the glowing blue fog was coming from a giant tube that she caught in the far right. Finally opening the door completely, she stepped through, feeling like she was in a factory rather than a large house; she figured it could be both. The first thing she glanced at was the glowing tube, and she gaped at what she'd never thought she would see during this journey; little hearts. Human hearts or animal hearts, she couldn't tell what kind it was, but either way, they were there; a faint pink color toned them as they floated aimlessly in the bright blue liquid.

She figured it would be a good idea to maybe take a picture of the scene incase she wouldn't walk past here again. She would have to tell and maybe show every little detail she saw to Natasha and Lucas. Pulling out her cell phone (since it had a camera in it), she put in on camera mode before aiming it towards the tube of hearts; not before the cell began blaring its loud ring tone, warning that someone was trying to call. It was Lucas that was trying to get to her, so she pressed the **Talk** button and put it to her ear.

"What's happening, Lucas?"

"_Dude, Era, we step into another hallway, and this place has some crazy shit in here. You have to check it out yourself to believe it!" _

"You can't take a photo of it? I'm about to snap something amazing I found myself."

There was a brief pause and some rustling noises on the other end of the phone, that's when Era knew Lucas traded places with Natasha on the phone.

"_Sure we can take a photo of it, but it looks even more surprising in person. Remember that we're checking out this ENTIRE place, so we're going to look at what you've seen so far in person too, and you're going to do the same to what we found, alright?" _

"Natasha, you sound a little unusual. Is everything okay there?"

Another pause and switch. Lucas spoke in again.

"_Era," _Lucas started. His voice was in a whisper. _"I don't know what in the world is going on with Natasha, but I think it has something to do with that huge scratch she got earlier. I'm worried."_

"I am too, but please keep an eye on her…!" Era replied. "I got to get off now so I can take a picture of this thing. I'll call you later."

With that, Era hung her phone up and went back to what she was doing before. Switching her phone back to camera mode, she held it up equally in front of the tube and finally snapped a photo of it. It was a good quality image, but when she looked at the tube again, it had changed into a white color. She wasn't sure if it was a reaction to the flash, if it usually changes color, or what, but she decided to move along to look for something else. There could be a million doors and rooms in this place, and only one could be where Ansem was.

* * *

"Where are we now?" Natasha asked. She and Lucas were in a rather large room, if it were actually a room. It was more like a platform they were standing on; the rest was a floor a few feet below them and rows of machinery lined up as walls. The room was dark, but from the help of the glowing neon floor they were standing on and the lighting from the metal lanes ahead of them, it was as though it was a never ending hall they could never walk through. The only place they could walk around was the large glowing floor that seemed like a platform, unless they wanted to try and jump off to get to the lower floor and possibly hurt themselves.

"I don't think we can move anywhere farther than here." She continued.

"Should we take a picture of it like Era suggested?" Lucas asked. He was leaning on the railing with his arms and looking down at the lower floor.

"Maybe. It'd have to be a wide set photo, since this room is like…juggernaut."

"Whoa…" Lucas said, half to himself.

"What is it?" Natasha replied, walking over to him.

"Just when we mentioned taking a photo of this place, Era sent us a photo of what she found." He said, taking out his cell, which was vibrating to cue that he had a picture message. When he opened it, he saw the bluish glowing tube, with the hovering hearts in it. He spoke for everyone when he mentioned that everything in the place would want to be seen in person.

"We should check this out next." Natasha said excitedly.

"After we get more on this place." Lucas said. He turned back towards the endless wide hall of mechanisms.

"We're on a platform. How the hell do you expect we get down there?"

"Maybe there's a ladder or an escalator or something we can use to get down." Lucas replied, looking all around the railing for something they could use to go down into. His cell phone rang and it was Era. Still looking around for what to climb down with, he began to commence talking with her.

"Era, what do you do when there's a giant floor below you and you can't find anything to help you go down?"

"_Jump maybe?' _

"It's about twelve feet down below us. You expect us to jump that far down? I have reasons to live ya know."

Natasha stared blankly at the chatty Lucas for a moment before looking herself for a way down, but not around the railing. It seemed too obvious; and this place wasn't something you'd see something obvious in. Instead, she checked around where they came inside from, and looked closely to the wall as she paced to the right and left, examining every bolt, nook and cranny she could get her eye on. She didn't find anything at first, but then she noticed there was a small red beam right next to the door they came out of. From a distance, it would probably be unnoticeable, but this close, you could easily be tempted to find out what it was. In fact, she didn't even realize that she was reaching out towards the button slowly with her pointer finger until a swirling noise right behind her snapped her out of her mindless stage. All the surrounding sounds that were around her was suddenly right in her head when she saw the large golden eyed creature from the train once again. Everything clouded as it leaped towards her, its cry, her shocked gasp, Lucas's still blabbing about.

"This place is so huge, who knows which room this Ansem guy is in?" He sighed. "Well, we're still looking for a way down to this lower floor so that we can explore further. There's got to be something at the end of this room."

"_What's Natasha doing?" _

"She's behind me looking for-" He turned to glance at Natasha but she wasn't there. "…Natasha?"

"_What's the matter?!"_

* * *

"She _vanished_!?" Era asked, nearly shouted. She was in a different room this time. It was very small, yet it was bundled with a lot of junk that Era could possibly be looking through for hints of where Ansem could be. All there was in the room were little chairs, a whole lot of drawings and blueprints of some things she had never thought about until now, and a portrait of a man in laboratory uniform and silver hair. He was rather tan, making his gold eyes stick out. Era was studying it as she talked with Lucas on her cell once more.

"_Era, I swear, she was right behind me a second ago, examining the wall for anything that could be of use to us." _

"You could have kept an eye on her while we talked!" She replied, scratching her scalp nervously. "Who knows where she could be now?"

"_I really doubt this, but she might have gone out of this room to look elsewhere." _

"Then leave the room too! We can't keep looking through this place if we lose Natasha."

"_Alright, alright! I'll look for her right now, don't worry about it." _

"Good. Do that." Era replied before pressing OFF on her cell. She gave an exasperated sigh as she kept staring at the portrait. "Goddamit, Natasha. What happened?"

As much as she didn't expect a reply, she kind of hoped that she heard Natasha's voice in reply. But she could be far away from Era and more close to Lucas at this point, so Era left Lucas to find her. Her curiosity got the best of her once she decided to take the portrait off the wall and look at the back of the frame it was in, oblivious to the writings on the wall where it hung, but she did notice a particular person's name written on the back of the frame.

_Ansem the Wise apprentice: Xehanort._

"This is a portrait of one of Ansem's apprentices?" Era asked herself. Something told her that just by seeing this on the back of the frame that he was nearby; and possibly this Xehanort or any other of the workers. She would tell Lucas and Natasha about it later, if they found her. There was another door that she hadn't checked out yet, and she would look through there, hoping that she was close to the group's solution to the town's problem.

Opening the next door, the room looked nothing like the room she was just in. In fact, she was walking on a glass balcony. Below her was a large platform, and further down below it was a long hallway, lined up with machinery and other things as the walls. It looked like the hall never ended. Then she remembered Lucas's recent conversation with her. This was the room they were just in. But they weren't there anymore, so she decided to check it out for herself. Luckily, there was a long ladder up from the balcony to the lower platform, but it was still a long height from there to where she stood, and she hoped the ladder was stable. Slowly lowering her feet, she began to step downwards toward the platform, to see that there was another door wide open, one that Lucas and Natasha probably entered and exited from earlier. The ladder actually seemed pretty stable, since it hasn't shook or flinched since Era began climbing down it. She was about a few steps away from the floor, few enough that she could jump down on to it without any problems. Lucas was right about the whole 'endless wide hall' he mentioned, this room was more like multiple floored endless hallway, filled with mechanisms she's probably never heard of. For a possible laboratory, this place seemed bigger in the inside than it looks on the outside. She even wondered if they would easily find their way out. The next thing she wanted to do was to see how high the platform REALLY was from the other floor below it, but after looking down, her question was instantly answered. It was a deep drop from where she stood to the bottom floor, and she doubt that anyone hasn't been down there before.

She felt a slight draft pass her by from her left and she looked towards the left side of the railing, finding a thick black rope tied around one of the bars that was long enough to reach the bottom floor; the odd thing was, however, that it wasn't there before, and if it was, how did Lucas and Natasha miss it before? It just seemed to stick out the most out of all of the rest of the items.

_Should I climb down it? _Era thought to herself. She began to walk towards the rope and examine it. It seemed tightly bound around the railing bar and was thick enough to hold her weight. It would be nice if there was a ladder instead though. But since there was nothing else to offer at this spot, Era decided that there was no other way to go but down. She went over the railing, feeling like she was about to do a crazy stunt on the top floor of the skyscraper building, and grasped the rope nervously. Descending down this rope seemed more risky than climbing down the ladder, and she was extra wary about how she slid down. Since it was a rough surfaced rope and rather prickly to start with, she'd have to go down extra slow. The lower she went towards the other floor, the more that she felt tinier in this hefty building. She finally made it down the lower floor and her shoes made a loud clack as if the floor was also made of glass. All the material the house was made of you couldn't possibly believe at first sight it was trusting. Deciding since she's made it this far, she decided to call Lucas once more. Then she had just realized an idea; why didn't she just call Natasha's cell phone when they realized she was missing. That was exactly what she was about to do. Punching in the numbers, she waited desperately for an answer. After seven seconds or more, the other line answered, but it was defiantly now what Era had expected. Instead of Natasha's cocky and diligent voice, she heard a large number of what seemed like animal cries, though she couldn't understand what kind of species it was. They sounded like those homicidal aliens that'd you'd see in horror movies, but this was coming out from Natasha's cell, and it was on, so something was happening right at the moment. As hard as she believed it was, she actually did make out a few words from the freakish monster outcries, though it was hard it make it out. From what she heard, there was more than one of whatever it was shouting on the other line speaking as well.

"_THERE SHE IS…!"_

"_LOCK IT…!!" _

That was all Era could make out. They said 'she' so they could possibly be talking about Natasha, and Era's heart raced when she thought she heard her voice not to far away from the mystery voices. Her tone sounded weak though, and it was more of a mumble than regular talking. In fact, none of her usual bravado had sounded in her voice that moment.

"_H…lp me..pl….ase.." _

Her voice was rather blurred, but from what Era heard, she could easily make out what she was saying. She needed help, immediately. But where was she, and where on earth Lucas was trying to find her. Beginning to walk down the large hall, which was still considered endless, she then dialed Lucas's cell.

"Come on, Lucas, answer already…!" She nearly yelled at her cell phone. There was still a dial tone, and then a click.

"_Era, I still haven't found Natasha yet." _He said bluntly, as if he expected her to ask her if he did.

"Yeah, I know you didn't, Lucas. I just called her cell. It sound's like she's being attacked!"

"_Attacked? By what?!"_

"I don't know. Another one of those Heartless things! Their voices…I couldn't make them out."

"_Heartless? They're here too?" _

"Possibly! But where are you right now?"

"_I'm in this long maze of a hallway, Era. I feel like I'm going in circles, I have no idea where I am right now. What about you?" _

"I'm on the lower floor you two had trouble getting down on before, feeling like I'm walking a road to nowhere." Era replied.

"_What the h- How did you get down there?!" _

"There was a rope to my side. Apparently you two didn't see it."

"_We'll have to check it out together soon, but in the meantime, lets look for Natasha. We have to hurry if it's as bad as you make it sound." _

"Catch up to ya later then." Lucas replied. Then the phone clicked.

* * *

"Those three don't look like they're enjoying their adventure." Vexen joked. He was back in the room with Zexion and Lexaeus, still watching the flashback of Rexa's past life.

"Does she even know what she's running into?" Lexaeus asked with scorn, as if one of the two ladies was dumb to begin with.

"Who? The Tasha girl or Era?"

"Both of them." Zexion answered. "Lexaeus does have a point. They're trespassing into a building unaware that they're actually expected."

"And the boy?" Lexaeus asked.

"Him too. He's actually in more peril than the girl he's searching for." Zexion explained, a finger resting on his chin. Vexen didn't bother trying to hide his smile.

"Rexa hasn't thought much of this, now that I just realized." He said. "She used to think out loud, but its as if she's not watching herself anymore."

"That's because…" Lexaeus was about to elaborate. "The deeper she got into her flash back, the more she was prone to actually feel what Era is feeling, as if she's been reincarnated or inside her body. Now she's reached that limit, and can't have a thought in this until she wakes up."

"That's deep." Zexion replied, glancing smugly over at the taller and built Nobody. "So when will she wake up?"

Lexaeus took his time to answer, a long pause right before his answer. "Not too soon, but not too long either." There was only silence after that. Zexion went back into his deep thinking phase as Vexen looked elsewhere, but when he turned his direction to something else, he couldn't help but chuckle.

"The poor girl."


	10. White Room

_Previously on **t h e l i f e l e s s l e e c h**:_

_"I feel like I'm trespassing..."_

_"That didn't stop you before. Why now?"_

_"I don't know. This place just gives me the creeps. I don't know why, but something tells me all of the sudden that we shouldn't be here."_

_**xxx**_

"_What's happening, Lucas?"_

"_Dude, Era, we step into another hallway, and this place has some unbelievable stuff in here. You have to check it out yourself to believe it!"_

"_You can't take a photo of it? I'm about to snap something amazing I found myself."_

"_Sure we can take a photo of it, but it looks even more surprising in person. Remember that we're checking out this ENTIRE place, so we're going to look at what you've seen so far in person too, and you're going to do the same to what we found, alright?"_

"_Natasha, you sound a little unusual. Is everything okay there?"_

"_Era, I don't know what in the world is going on with Natasha, but I think it has something to do with that huge scratch she got earlier. I'm worried."_

_**xxx**_

"_This place is so huge, who knows which room this Ansem guy is in? Well, we're still looking for a way down to this lower floor so that we can explore further. There's got to be something at the end of this room."_

"_What's Natasha doing?"_

"_She's behind me looking for-…Natasha?"_

"_What's the matter?!"_

_**xxx **_

"_Rexa hasn't thought much of this, now that I just realized. She used to think out loud, but it's as if she's not watching herself anymore."_

"_That's because…the deeper she got into her flash back, the more she was prone to actually feel what Era is feeling, as if she's been reincarnated or inside her body. Now she's reached that limit, and can't have a thought in this until she wakes up."_

"_That's deep. So when will she wake up?"_

"_Not too soon, but not too long either."_

"_The poor girl."_

* * *

Natasha was lying on her back, feeling as if she's been asleep for a long time. The last thing she remembered was being attacked by this humongous Heartless, and she had lost consciousness afterwards. She struggled to sit up and attempted to look wherever she was now, and the rancid stench of blood had seemed to numb out her sense of smell. She felt worse than she had felt before, but hated to admit it. She never liked people to think that she was a weakling, like most girls. Especially not Era and Lucas. They were the closest friends she's ever had, and had never liked giving away hints that she was in any weak state. But she was alone right now, and had no idea where she was. It looked like she was locked in a dungeon looking place, a there wasn't any sign of Heartless being nearby, thankfully. The patches that covered her wounds somehow came off, and the scratches looked worse than they had originally looked. She moaned a little in pain as she tried to sit herself up, and once she was on her knees, she looked around a bit more. It was like a dungeon maze to be exact, and she wasn't exactly locked, she was lost. She didn't even know if she was in the house with her other two friends anymore. She cursed in disbelief of what just happened, but if she wanted to get out, she'd have to work to find solutions. In the corner of her eye, she noticed her cell phone about a foot away from her; luckily, it wasn't damaged. _Maybe I can call one of them for help. _She thought instantly. Picking up her phone, her hope then sunk when she realized the screen was broken, so she couldn't use the phone for anything.

"This is hopeless." Natasha muttered to herself.

"_Maybe, but it's not over yet."_

Natasha blinked, and she could have sworn she just heard someone else- either that or she's hearing things. If so, then the heartless had gotten her all banged up pretty badly.

"_You're not hallucinating. And you're not in the mansion anymore." _

Natasha dared herself to turn around to check behind her, as much as she doubted there was. But she was wrong. A cloaked man stood close to her, his face hidden in the hood over his head. He looked like a black ghost, but one thing Natasha questioned was how long was he inside watching her.

"Who are you?" She questioned immediately.

"_My identity is of no importance. But your friend has spoken to me plenty of times." _

"Era? I thought she was…talking to herself that one time." She knew exactly what the man was talking about. The time right before the train arrived at the station in Siren City, Era stood not too far from a crevice, and was shouting at her self- but she was yelling at _him _the whole time. "But…I didn't see you!"

"_I told you before, my identity was of no importance, and neither is my image, unless I choose to speak with someone in person, then I show myself."_

"If your image is important now, then why don't you show me your face?" Natasha said back. The man chuckled.

"_You must have some sort of trouble remembering things." _

She had enough. "Well you know what. I don't care who you are, just tell me where I'm at, how to get out and meet with Era and Lucas again."

"_That's impractical." _

"And why is that…?!" Natasha asked. She didn't even know her tone was rising a little bit. The man lowered his head a little bit, and in some unusual way, Natasha could tell he was smirking.

"_Because you're in another world."_

* * *

"Goddamit, Natasha. Where did you run off to?" Lucas mumbled to himself. He knew that he wouldn't get a reply, since he had a feeling that she was nowhere nearby. He was still lost in the maze of numerous halls, feeling as if he's gone in a number of circles. He'd even forgotten where he came inside in the first place, and wondered if it was a good idea to even start wandering in this so-called house. Era did warn them at first. The hall he now past was a little bit darker than the others, and the wall next to him looked like it got busted up by some kind of explosion, wires and bolts seem to dangle and stick far out of the hole. _I wonder what cause this._ He thought to himself. He actually stopped walking for a moment to listen for anything distant from him, encase Natasha's footsteps were echoing through the halls. But he heard nothing except for his steady breathing so far. After waiting a few more seconds, he gave up and started walking again, but the moment he took the first step, something behind him had rattled and then fell over. Quickly turning around, he saw that another chunk of the wall had fell onto the floor, and the cause of it was sliding right over it in Lucas's direction. As Lucas backed up a little, the thing got up to its original form instead of staying as a shadow on the floor, and took a moment to look Lucas in the eye. In fact, it looked just like the Heartless the trio had fought during their train ride.

"I thought you were gone for good." Lucas said to it as if it could talk. The thing said nothing, but instead quickly glanced to both of its sides before it lunged out towards the unprepared boy. Lucas barely had time to cry out before he was pinned against the nooks and crannies in the giant gap in the wall. He cringed as a solid but shadow-like hand grasped tightly around his neck and wire parts were digging into his back. He wasn't completely hopeless though. He kicked with all the strength he could find at the midsection of the Heartless, and it had let go and backed up a little bit, letting his guard down, but Lucas wasn't exactly ready for another blow yet. While he was attacked the first time, his cell phone had slipped out of his back pocket into the cluster of wires behind him, and it would be impossible to get it out unless he wanted to loose his hand.

As if the thing had read his mind, the creature had lashed out once more towards, Lucas. Luckily, he dodged, but the hand of the Heartless had been so full of force that it had punched right through some of the wires and bolts, only to smash his isolated cell phone. There was no use to try and call for help now, but he began to get some of his circulation back as his breathing was back to normal. He thought about running, but this place was a maze, and wherever he hid, the thing would probably find him later. He suddenly realized, _What if this thing attacked Natasha too?_

As soon as he got up to his feet, he backed away without stop, but the Heartless wouldn't follow him. They were about two yards apart before the Heartless had then vanished, which put Lucas in brief awe.

"What was that for?" He asked himself, rubbing his slightly bruised arm. Something told him there was no use looking around this place again, so he'd have to look elsewhere. To start off looking for the way out, Lucas turned around and began walking the way he backed up, without looking at his footing. After about three footsteps, it was if there was a hole in the floor too, as an alarmed Lucas stepped into the gap, and before he tried to regain his balance back on the floor, it was as if he was being sucked in, and it was easier said than done to try and pull out. Without any effort at all, the void in the floor had sucked him right in like a black hole.

* * *

_**"The phone number you have reached, is unavailable or is no longer in service. If you need hel-"**_

_Lucas...this isn't funny. Answer your damn phone._ Era thought impatiently. Not only was Natasha's phone unresponsive, but she suddenly lost hold of Lucas too. She began to think that she'd have to continue on her own and meet up with them when they were all finished looking around the place. Since there were even paths around the giant house as well, she was standing outside on one of the long stairways. It was around four o'clock in the morning now, not too far from sunrise, but her parents must not be able to sleep now that they know that she's gone. She wondered if Renée was still asleep in the hospital, and if this mission would be any easier if she was there the help them out. She just wanted to hear her voice again. It's been two days since her coma began, and it felt too long for Era to tolerate. But she was doing this for their town and Renée as well. Thinking about all of this suddenly gave Era a headache, but it wasn't enough to bring her down. Looking up, she saw that the stairway led to a balcony and a large window. There was no light shining through the curtains, so she figured that she hasn't explored the room yet. Hopefully, it was the one Ansem was in, and not another confusing hall. Especially the one she was in earlier with the never ending pathway and the walls of machinery, since she ended up at a dead end with even more mechanisms, so she had to walk all the way back and keep looking around the mansion. The weather was getting windy and chilly, so she wouldn't waste anymore time standing still on the stairway. She continued to walk up, eventually flashed by strong moonlight, until she reached the balcony. If she didn't find anything here, she'd check the back of the building next, since she felt it was the only place her, Lucas, or Natasha didn't check out yet. Right before she reached to open the window, her cell began to ring once more. It, once again, was her anxious mom waiting for her to answer. Era hoped she'd have nothing to lose when she pressed the **TALK **button. Pressing the button and slowly raising the cell to her ear, the light tone in her voice wasn't what she expected to come out.

"…Mom?"

"_ERA! I want to know NOW, where the **hell **you are! Do you know how much patience I am losing?!"_

Era groaned miserably. "Mother, you'd think I'm crazy if I told you."

"_I keep getting calls asking me if you left the kids alone yesterday during childcare." _She sounded as if she was seeing red now. _"AND both Lucas and Natasha's parents are asking me if I think they ran away from town, seeing this is no coincidence. You all **never** snuck out before!" _

"I don't see how you would know." Era replied without thinking.

"_Are you insinuating something, Era? I swear, I'm about to hurt someone - you've never disappointed me so much in my life!" _

"You think YOU'VE been disappointed?!" Era shouted back. "You have no idea how many times -of all of the countless tragedies that's happened in my life- they've all been your fault-"

Era was cut off by what sounded like a shrieking noise, but she couldn't entirely tell what it was; but it did leave shivers in her spine and gave her a very uncomfortable feeling.

"_Era, I don't know what the fuck is going on right now. But, we're going to track you down right now." _

And the line clicked. Era closed her eyes tightly as she turned her phone off, having a very hard time fighting the urge to throw it through the window instead of having to lift it. But apparently she was in enough trouble already, and she didn't want to get into anymore if she somehow destroyed Ansem's property. Things couldn't possibly get worse, but she's always been told that things get worse before they get better, and in this situation, she hoped things would just get better already. She had no idea how mom was going to track her down, but if she successfully found her (which she doubted), that'd be the end of her. She could be charged for trespassing, losing her best friends, defiance, she didn't want to think about it, so she got down to loosen the bolts that held the window in the wall, since there wasn't a smart easier way to get in, and then tugged the window a crack open. Moving the curtains aside, she didn't see much, and the room was dark and quiet, so it was safe to climb in.

When she got in, however, she saw a lot more. There was a table in the middle of the room that seemed to have been broken in half, with a few things on it that were tilted or slid right off. There were two chairs sitting across from each other on each side of the table, and a few pieces of paper with written notes on them were scattered on the floor. Was this place even Ansem's? She just figured they'd look in this house cause it was bigger and stuck out more like the rest, but now it seems that they gotten themselves into a mess. But it had to be his house, since she found the portrait of one of his apprentices earlier, and could possibly be in the house too. There was another door across the room from where she stood, so she figured she would look through there next, since there wasn't much of anything in the room she was in now. She took a few steps towards the door before something's, or someone's voice had made her halt.

"Going somewhere?"

Era quickly turned around, feeling as if she just got busted for something illegal; despite that she was trespassing. It was the same man that she had always encountered on her way around the city. The hooded figure stood not too far from her, but he had clicked the light on once she noticed that he was around.

"You again…" Was all she said when she saw him again.

"Your search around here isn't going so well, is it?" He replied. When Era didn't say anything, he did a low chuckle, as if she were stupid to look around here in the first place.

"If you count loosing your two best friends in the middle of it, then yes."

"I know where they are, though."

"You do?!"

"All I will tell you is that they're not anywhere near here." He replied. Era blinked in confusion.

"Wait, so you won't tell me where they are?" Era asked. "I want to know where they are! That's not fair!"

"_Life_ isn't fair. It's a heavy burden. Having to lose deeply what is close to your heart. It happens to everyone, and it happened to me as well."

Era wanted to think of some retort to shout back, but she was speechless from his little riddle. After a moment of silence, the man began to approach her. The chain of his jacket clanked and dangled aimlessly as he got closer with each graceful step. Era didn't know if she should run or wait to see what happened. Since he was just in a black hooded coat, there was no telling what he would do.

"There is something I think you're ready to know." He said as he stopped walking when they were about a foot apart. "Unless you want to look for millenniums through this house, you won't be able to find who you're looking for here."

"Ansem's not here?!" Era said. A gloved finger was placed on her mouth to quiet her down.

"You poor girl…" He mumbled. "Apparently, you've got no one else to turn to. Don't you think you should just leave this place?"

"…I have to wait for Natasha and Lucas. Who knows where they are - besides you? And I don't want my mom to find me here."

"I don't mean the city." He replied. "I meant this world. Your friends aren't here. Perhaps you can look for them elsewhere besides this place."

"What do you mean 'leave the world'?" Era asked, looking down at her feet.

"Your friends are no place in the world right now. Your other friend is in a fatal coma, your lover has lost his heart, and your parents will take extreme measures on how to punish you for what you did if they find you."

"Huh?! Wait a minute - you mean Isa? How did he lose his heart?!"

"The Heartless found him as a threat them and you. As much as you might have loved him dearly, they could feel the darkness in his heart, and took it all away. You should be thanking them."

"How do you know all of this…?"

"I can see your past, and your future. Neither of them are pretty to look forward to. You're only left with no choice."

"What choice is that?" Era asked, not really wondering what the answer is.

"The reason the Heartless are following you. They're offering to return you to your friends, a better family, and your real love, but it is a big sacrifice." He started. He turned towards the window and pointed. "The crevice along the station you all left from. There is nothing but darkness there. A home to Heartless if nowhere else. All you need to do is give them what they came here for."

"What did they come here for besides me?"

"You'll find out soon enough." He replied. Era ignored what he said last and walked over the open window to stand on the balcony and look outwards. The closer station was far for just walking, and she'd hate to take the train AGAIN, but she had no other choice. She could hear the sound of boots clapping against the surface of the floor coming towards her from behind, and this time the man was even closer than before. She turned around slowly to glance at him, and to her shock, she was beginning to take his hood off. When he rose it halfway, long silver hairs began to fall out and sit on his shoulders, and sharp yellow eyes began to stick out from the shadow. When his hood was down, Era could see his features, and he almost could have sworn he was the man in the portrait, Xehanort, but something was off. A small smile curled from his lips as he stared deep in her eyes, and they nearly absorbed her; it was almost as if he was studying her. "So you are one of them."

"Excuse me..." Era started, still awestricken. "But...who are you?"

Then silver-haired man closed his eyes for a brief moment before opening them again and to glance the other way towards the station and the other buildings. Then he glanced back at the confused blonde to answer her question.

"I...am Xemnas. I've come to find out who you really are." He started. "Now I know."

Era had no idea what he was talking about. She looked towards the direction where she would have to go to head back to the station and take a train ride back. Were the trains even running during these hours? "Umm...I think walking to the station and then taking the train back to the first one will take a while, don't you think?"

Xemnas looked as if there was no problem with that. He replied back to her question, but not before he grabbed her by the shoulders for some unknown purpose. Then Era knew. She felt a very unusual aura passing through her, around her veins, as she saw that there was some kind of shadow portal looking thing right underneath her. The shadow swirls began to revolve around her as Xemnas spoke once more. "Then take a detour."

That was all she could hear him say before the ribbons of darkness began to close in and consume her, and take her to another place.


	11. Sorcerous Waking

_Previously on **t h e l i f e l e s s l e e c h**:_

"_If your image is important now, then why don't you show me your face?" _

"_You must have some sort of trouble remembering things." _

"_Well you know what. I don't care who you are, just tell me where I'm at, how to get out and meet with Era and Lucas again." _

"_That's impractical." _

"_And why is that…?!"_

"_Because you're in another world."_

_**xxx**_

"_I keep getting calls asking me if you left the kids alone yesterday during childcare. AND both Lucas and Natasha's parents are asking me if I think they ran away from town, seeing this is no coincidence. You all **never** snuck out before!" _

"_I don't see how you would know." _

"_Are you insinuating something, Era? I swear, I'm about to hurt someone - you've never disappointed me so much in my life!" _

"_You think YOU'VE been disappointed?! You have no idea how many times -of all of the countless tragedies that's happened in my life- they've all been your fault-" _

"_Era, I don't know what the fuck is going on right now. But, we're going to track you down right now." _

_**xxx**_

"_There is something I think you're ready to know. Unless you want to look for millenniums through this house, you won't be able to find who you're looking for here." _

"_Ansem's not here?!" _

"_You poor girl…apparently, you've got no one else to turn to. Don't you think you should just leave this place?" _

"…_I have to wait for Natasha and Lucas. Who knows where they are - besides you? And I don't want my mom to find me here." _

"_I don't mean the city. I meant this world. Your friends aren't here. Perhaps you can look for them elsewhere besides this place." _

_**xxx**_

"_I can see your past, and your future. Neither of them are pretty to look forward to. You're only left with no choice." _

"_What choice is that?" _

"_The reason the Heartless are following you. They're offering to return you to your friends, a better family, and your real love, but it is a big sacrifice. The crevice along the station you all left from. There is nothing but darkness there. A home to Heartless if nowhere else. All you need to do is give them what they came here for." _

"_What did they come here for besides me?" _

"_You'll find out soon enough...so you are one of them." _

_"Excuse me...but...who are you?"_

_"I...am Xemnas. I've come to find out whom you really are. Now I know." _

* * *

Natasha felt as though she went through the route a dozen times. She wished the guy she met earlier was back, to tell her where she REALLY was. Who would believe they were suddenly in another world? Someone that probably needed mental help. She sighed as she decided to take a break from all of the walking and sunk down against the wall to the floor. She felt like she was in a dungeon maze or something similar to it. All the doors seemed locked and there was no easy way out. That's when Natasha thought twice about that, and decided that she would have to search in places she normally wouldn't look for a hidden door or something of the like. She arched her head back weakly to look at the ceiling. Nothing but a hanging unlit chandelier. In fact, there were a couple of them that she had passed by, and wondered if she should think deep and decide whether they had anything to do with getting herself free. But she didn't want to think too hard and make herself look stupid, and decided to just look around the place some more, retracing her steps. She's never really been in a dungeon before, or found out how to get out; but in her younger years of playing video games, some of them involved dungeons, labyrinths, prison breaks, and anything of the sort, and she'd have to think of a strategy to get out; so being in here probably wouldn't be any different…hopefully.

Chandeliers were out of the question then, so Natasha looked everywhere else but the ceiling. Her hairs seemed to stick to her forehead, since she was trickling with sweat from searching for so long. The day couldn't have gotten any worse, and she wondered if she would ever get back home. If she had the chance go back in time to have never started to plan to find Ansem, she would have taken it. The entire mess they were in was because of the plan they made to try and find him. If she got out of this place and back home safely, she would swear to never make a mistake like that again. As for Era and Lucas, she couldn't get to them, but there was no way she was as far as another world from them. It couldn't have been like -

It almost felt as if something was ripping her back in half. Natasha screamed as she felt an excruciating pain go through her back, mainly from her cuts. The pain had came out of nowhere and had knocked all other thoughts out of her mind so it was the only thing she could think about.

"Does it hurt, Natasha?"

The voice wasn't a stranger. The man she talked to earlier seemed to be right there behind her, as if he was planning to help her under one condition. She could barely make out the words without screaming.

"What...do YOU want?" She gritted out.

"To explain what's happening this very moment. After all, it is an oblivious side effect to the nasty wound you have."

Tears were about to form in her eyes now. "Side effects?"

"An injury from a Heartless can have fatal aftermaths, but if you're lucky and act now, you won't have to deal with this."

At this point, Natasha would do anything to get rid of the sudden pain, since every second that past it would increase sharply. "What?"

"The pain is only a test on what you do, fail it, and you'll lose your heart."

Natasha turned around to look at the man, and to her surprise his hood was off. His face was completely shown in front of her. His skin was a dark tan color, nearly brown, but depends on how you would elaborate color hues. His eyes were a very sharp gold and his hair was silver, with two of his bangs were pulled back with the rest. Natasha had just realized it had all fit in with his dark tone of a voice, and for the first time, she seemed to have paid attention to something else other than her back pain. Unfortunately, the distraction made her unaware of what was currently happening to her. She turned around to where her body was positioned, and it felt like something was sliding down her cheek. Rubbing her finger against it, she at first thought they were tears -coming from all of the pain she felt - but she was very much wrong. A bitter smell filled her nostrils as she looked at a few streaks of blood on her fingers. She was bleeding from the eyes, and acknowledging it only made her terribly woozy.

"I don't...feel so good...-" She said. As much as she felt like she got the whole sentence out, she felt cut off by something at the end. Then she blacked out.

But it didn't entirely feel like it. She knew she was still alive, but something was very wrong. It was as if she was falling into an abyss. Nothing but darkness and emptiness surrounded her as she fell into a void. As the seconds turned to minutes, she felt as if she was starting to forget bits of info about herself, and everyone else.

_You seem confused, dear. . ._

_**I don't understand what just happened. One moment I felt pain, than the next, I pass out and I don't know where I am.**_

_You are in an abyss. The Heartless genes have reached your system and taken over._

_**Taken over? What do you mean? Am I ever going to wake up?!**_

_As yourself, no._

_**What do you mean by, as myself?**_

_If you do wake up, it will not be you in the human shell that will be walking around. When you're run by Heartless blood, you're a totally different person. You could have another identity, another life, and another friend that can actually look after you. _

_**What other friend? What happened to my old one? **_

_I'll leave that for you to find out in the future. Can't really say 'on your own', now can I? Not after what's happening to you now._

* * *

"What...happened?" Lucas asked himself. He was lying down on what felt like a tile floor, but when he opened his eyes, he noticed he was outside, lying on bricks, and the scenery looked dark. He too realized that he had a massive headache, probably a migraine, which had triggered once he attempted to raise his head. Feeling around his hair, he felt a burning lump on his scalp, which had sent a pang of pain through his head when he tried to force it down. Still lying down, he waiting until the pain in his head died down a little bit, which took longer than he hoped, then managed to make himself sit up. He thought at first that he was outside the giant house, but when he looked around, he knew he was in a totally different place. He didn't even think he was home anymore. Holding his head as he rose up to his feet, he noticed he was standing next to a water fountain. The statue was a figure that he didn't recognize, but it was spewing something that wasn't water. It was green, and smelled vile. This didn't seem like an ordinary town, or wherever he was. He then realized that Natasha or Era wasn't anywhere to be seen. And he remembered how his cell phone got crushed during the Heartless encounter a moment ago, so there was no way he could get in contact with them. But someone had to help him out, or at least have a phone he could borrow. But in a town like this, he was a little bit doubtful of how the people would act, so he would have to find something to use on his own.

He looked over where there was a partly opened metal gate, and ahead was what seemed like a shelter of some sort. Managing to keep his footing and balance, he walked through the gate to get a closer look. The hut was guided by a very long staircase, leading to an unusually small door and a ringer. Nobody seemed to be around guarding it. Stepping on the same few steps a couple of times to make sure they were stable, he then began his climb up. If it weren't for the staircase, he'd actually be taller than the cottage. Kneeling down to get leveled, the ringer was tied loosely to a string, rocking back and forth wherever the wind blew it gently. Lucas pulled the string and then let it go, and the ringer made an usual cry noise. Lucas waited for something decent to happen, but nothing seemed to be commencing. After a few seconds of waiting, he began to look around to see of anything changed. Then he noticed that something DID happen when he pulled the ringer. Something or someone was dreadfully walking around the fountain where he woke up, mainly around where he stood to be exact, and looked like it was trying to track something out. Then it turned around, and Lucas realized it was a person, but his image remained unclear. It was a hooded figure in a black coat, and Lucas could only make out part of his face as he stared back at him from afar. Silver bangs and sharp gold eyes.

The next thing he knew, the man vanished, and since there was no point in staying in the area anymore, Lucas quickly went down the stairs to try and see if the man moved to a different spot. A broken piece of one of the stairs unfortunately had tripped him on the way down, and he cried out as he fell down on the harsh ground. It wasn't that much of the soft landing, and he ended up having to rub his head back in order again. He ached a little as he rolled on to his side, rubbing some woodchips off of his arm and sleeve.

"If you're not careful, you may never see your friends again." Said an unexpected voice. Lucas immediately looked up, startled to see the coated man standing right above him. He immediately rolled on his back, looking straight up at him.

"Who're you?!"

"Someone that can help you." Was all the man said in reply at first. "If you agree to do what I'm about to tell you to do."

"I don't even know who you are..." Lucas replied. He managed to get himself up halfway, but the hooded man leaned down and grabbed him roughly by the arm and yanked him up on his feet. His arm was still tense from the fall off the stairs, so it hurt even worse when the man yanked him up. Rubbing his arm a little he glanced over at the hooded figure. "Thanks, I guess."

Lucas could then see a little bit more of the man's face from where he stood. His face was a dark brown or a very dark tan and his hair was a silver color. His sharp gold eyes stared right through Lucas as if he owed him something.

"Let me just say, that you're no longer at home."

"So where am I?" Lucas asked anxiously.

"In another world." The man replied darkly. Lucas could only glance around, wondering if anyone was listening in on their conversation.

"You're kidding, right? Are you joking me?!"

From the silence that had filled the air, Lucas had a feeling that the stranger wasn't trying to be crazy.

"Oh my god...how do I get back home."

"You can't. Unless your friend finds you and takes you there."

"Look, I don't even know where they are. Are they here too?"

"All three of you are in three different spots in the universe. If you find each other successfully, you can return home. If not, you'll be stuck here, and possibly become prey to the Heartless."

Lucas was still trying to put the facts all together. "How do you know all this?"

"I know all that there is to know."

"Tell me. Who are you? What's your name?"

A few seconds past by, but then the man did what Lucas didn't expect him to do. He reached up to his head, and then pulled his hood down to reveal his face.

"Its Ansem."

Lucas was about to reply as if he were a regular person, but then he realized that the man standing in front of him was the man they've been looking for the past few hours. The man that could help them find out how to get rid of the Heartless back at home.

"You're Ansem...you can help us, can't you?!"

"Help you? With what? May I ask?"

"We have an infestation of Heartless back at home. We've read all about your reports, and we figured that you can help us get rid of them. Also, we were kind of hoping you knew a way to help our other friend get out of her coma."

"...The girl's in a coma? What a disaster." Ansem replied. He turned around, examining the scenery of whatever world they're in. Lucas nodded in agreement, hoping he understood the situation of what was happening back at home. "And it almost as though your town has no hope left."

Lucas blinked. "What do you mean?"

"It means..." Ansem started off. Just as he slowly turned around to face Lucas again, Lucas suddenly felt like there was a very discomforting pressure building up inside of him. Next thing he knew, it had burst, sending his entire body into an excruciating pain. He felt like he was dying as Ansem stared right through him with his sharp eyes, which seemed like they were glowing now. "...that your town, nor you or your friends, will see the light of day again."

Ansem continued to stare at Lucas until he passed out, using his own dark aura to choke the light out of him, and force him to lose his heart. The fool actually believed he was the real Ansem, as well as his friend. And now there was only one person left to take care of.

* * *

Era was shaking not from the cold, but from deep anxiety as she landed onto cold stone ground from the vortex. Pushing herself up, she looked to her side, and realized that she was right next to the train station that she and her friends had left from earlier to begin there search. The building was completely dark with only the light from the tall lampposts shining to show its structure. As much as the cold was the least of Era's worries, it was giving her a little bit of a hard time breathing. Slowly, she turned her head towards the front, and she spotted the dark crevice a couple of meters away from her. Since it was dark out, it looked even more menacing that it did before; but Era was still determined to do whatever she was assigned to do.

The moment she managed to get on her feet and start walking, she felt like she was getting colder from each step she took. Other thoughts also invaded her mind as she walked towards the crevice, like how would other's lives be impacted if she suddenly disappeared. Would her parent's life physically be easier? Would her past friends even know about what would happen? Not only that, but she knew that there were things in life that she hasn't done yet, and this decision would effect everything and everyone.

She stopped walking once she was at the edge of the crevice. Looking down, there was nothing but darkness, but she could sense something was living down there, no , a lot of things were down deep inside the crevice. It was as if the moment she looked down the long hole, time had stopped. She no longer shivered, and it was quiet enough to hear herself breathing. A sound that echoed the same way as she teleported at the spot was heard close behind her let her know that Xemnas was behind her again.

"They're waiting for you."

"What exactly do they want from me?"

"Your heart and nothing more."

"And if I agree to do this, they will leave our town alone, and everything will be the way it was supposed to be before they came here."

Xemnas's eyes seemed to sparkle as a bit of moonlight reflected on them. "Indeed." Era glanced over at him for a moment, seeing that his face was expressionless. Of course it would be, nobody would smile in a situation like this until the aftermath. She then glanced back down, counting down towards the moment she would make her decision. Xemnas apparently had more to say to encourage her, however. "If you accept, everything will be the way its supposed to be, and your fate will reset itself so your life will be more to your liking."

Era felt a lump in her throat. Despite what he said seemed encouraging, she was still a little afraid of what would happen afterwards. But apparently, this would set the time back.

"You will..." Xemnas started. "...Be able to smile more than you ever did."

Era sunk her head and closed her eyes. As Xemnas's explanation buzzed through her mind, she began to calm down little by little, eventually feeling overconfident of what would occur. Opening her eyes, just to close them once more, she nodded towards Xemnas as she turned her back,

and then fell backwards into the crevice.

* * *

The moment Era fell into the darkness, Rexa felt as if she just been hit in the face. However, when she woke up herself, she was in the darkness too. Nobody was around. At least, nobody was until a minute passed, and a light flashed all around her, and it seemed like she was suddenly standing in outer space. Though everything stood still, as if time stopped once more. The stars weren't revolving around each other, nor did they sparkle brighter from a different angle. As she literally stood in place, waiting for something to happen, a silhouette began to walk towards her from way afar, boots seeming to clank and echo from stepping on nothing, and once person walked out of the shadows, Rexa saw the familiar face.

"Marluxia?" Rexa asked surprisingly. She was even startled when he stepped suddenly in front of her when he was far away from her a second ago.

"Did you enjoy seeing your previous life?" He said, with an apathetic face.

"I have...so many questions...where am I now?"

"Why, you're still in Castle Oblivion. You were asleep the whole time."

"Asleep? Wha-" Rexa could only say that much before a more strong flash had surrounded her, forcing her to put her arm in front of her face to block the worst of it, but then the light seemed to overtake everything, and was blinded.

"Rexa." Marluxia's voice said distantly, yet she still wasn't able to open her eyes.

"Where are you?" Rexa replied, but it wasn't an echo anymore. It almost felt like she was talking to herself.

"Open your eyes."

As much as Rexa was afraid to, she slowly opened her eyes. She was in the same white room she was in before her flashback began. She was lying on a bed on top of the sheets and covers, seeming to be hugging herself as if she was making sure she was Rexa and not Era at the moment. Nobody seemed to be around. Except for Marluxia, who stood in front of her and placed a gloved hand on her forehead. It was very cold against her forehead, so she guessed that she seemed to be heated up during her sleep.

"How could he?" Rexa asked weakly. She didn't expect it to be the first thing she would say, but it just slipped out.

"I suppose that you mean..." Marluxia started, but Rexa cut in.

"Xemnas. He tricked me-...Era-into killing herself so that everything would return to normal."

"It looks like we have a lot of talking to do." Marluxia said as if a very long discussion was about to come up. He lifted his hand off of her forehead and held it in front of her distantly, offering to help her up. Politely, Rexa took his hand and he pulled her up to a sitting position. "Let me first say, that the person Era spoke to wasn't Xemnas. You were speaking all that time to an imposter."

"You mean that _Era _was speaking to an imposter. I'm just nothing."

Marluxia had stopped talking for a moment after she last spoke, so there must have been some truth in what she said. He closed his eyes as if in deep thought while he talked. "The man Era spoke to...was Xehanort's Heartless."

"He became a Heartless? And it lied to me?!" Rexa replied. "That means...he must have lied to Natasha and Lucas as well." She felt her grimace go down to a frown. "So the town isn't restored to the way it was. Renee isn't out of her coma. I don't think..."

She didn't even realize, but Rexa had gotten up to go across the room towards another wall, looking like she was staring at it but was focusing on something else. Placing her hand on her chest, she still felt no heartbeat. So she had no heart, all because Era gave it up. She might as well have been dead. A cold trickle of sweat had rolled down Rexa's cheek, forcing another one of her hairs to stick to her face. Aggravatingly, she wiped it off, and still couldn't believe what she had gone through. She wished that she could see her friends' faces again. She wanted to see her town again, but back to the way it was, and not invaded by ruthless Heartless.

Little did she notice that Marluxia was coming walking towards her from behind. Since her mind was on other things, she couldn't hear the boot clanks approaching her. She instantly knew that Marluxia was with her again when she felt two hands pressed against her shoulders. He was a little bit taller than her, yet she could feel a little glide of warm breath hit her neck.

"Rexa, as much as you may feel like you're nothing, you'll learn overtime that you have abilities that you could never have as a person with a heart." The hands had slid down to her forearms. "That's how Nobodies develop. They start out as a person, who loses their heart for whatever cause, and is reborn as an entity of massive power."

Turning herself around to face Marluxia, she saw a little smile forming on his lips. "Do I even have any? I don't feel any different than a normal human being except that I...have no heart."

"Just like the rest of us have done, you will discover your inner strength eventually." Rexa felt a little faint as he continued to talk, probably still waking up from her long past-vision. "You will feel like you were born again...Rexa."

"...Whatever." She could only reply. They were still staring at each other until multiple shadow vortexes popped out on numerous spots of the room behind them. When each of the portals faded, one of the many Organization members fro the Castle were visible. Each one either looked focused or just waiting to see what would happen next. Marluxia had tapped Rexa on the back to motion her forward towards the middle of the room, where the others stood. Crossing her arms against her chest, she casually began to walk forward; with a blank expression on her face, yet she felt like she was just about to start a meeting of some sort.

"Well, I finally woke up from looking at my past life." Rexa started. "I saw some things that I was glad to know about, and I saw some things I really wished I never saw."

"You could say that we could relate." Axel replied, a sly look on his face.

"I almost accused our leader of tricking my other self into killing herself. But apparently, all this time it was an imposter. I fell for it, and now I'm just no one to be. Yet I still am."

Marluxia then had stepped forward. "But Rexa has agreed to continue her life here, and discover what new secrets she hasn't yet learned about herself. As we go on with our plan, we will also help our new member out until she is fully capable of working independently. Understood?"

Rexa waited for an answer, but then realized that Marluxia had mentioned something that she hasn't heard of yet. "What plan?"

Marluxia chuckled just for a second before speaking again. "Any of you care to explain?"

All was silent for a moment, despite that everyone looked like they wanted to speak up to answer her question. Axel was the first to step up and speak first.

"Organization XIII has a mission. Collect the most hearts so that we may one day we could no longer just be empty shells. As much as we appreciate the abilities we have now, we also want to be real people again. To have hearts. If there's anything we want, it's that."

Then she heard Zexion's voice. "There is a boy, who holds the key to our existence, that we need in order to restore Kingdom Hearts the way we desire it to be. He was meant to destroy the Heartless, and for every heartless destroyed, a heart joins within Kingdom Hearts. Its our only hope for becoming whole."

"His name is Sora." Vexen cut in. "He's not much of an impression to me, but he still is useful to us, which is why we must get a hold of him and his...'keyblade'. He's known as the keyblade master."

Something inside of Rexa fluttered when the word 'keyblade' was heard. She didn't know why, but mentally, the keyblade sounded very important, enough to somehow cause a reaction within her.

"How do...we get to him?" Rexa asked curiously.

She heard Larxene do her usual scoff. "While you were in your flashback coma, we managed to trick him and his comrades to going to this castle. They're on there way here as we speak."

She glanced over at the door, one where a person would usually exit or come in through, suddenly feeling uneasy. She had just became a Nobody, and yet the others new more about this 'Sora' than she did. Who knew how powerful he was, or how long it took for him to get this far. As if Marluxia could sense her uneasiness, he laid a hand on her shoulder to speak to her.

"No need to worry, Rexa. He's a long way off from here, so we have all the time right now to prepare and teach you how to be a full-fledged Nobody before you meet him in person."

The mood had changed a bit a little bit after what he just said. She felt as if she was being appreciated, and loved like she was part of a family of people that couldn't normally fit into the world. Whether she had a heart or not, she still felt welcome.

"Now Rexa, come." Marluxia offered her his hand. "Its time for you to prepare before the arrival of the Keyblade Master."

**~End of Part 1~**


	12. PART TWO: Key of Guidance

_Previously on **t h e l i f e l e s s l e e c h**:_

_"Our kind? Who...and what are you?" _

_"Your leader. And it's about time you realize who you are...Rexa."_

_**xxx**_

_"Whoa, Marluxia, what did you do to her?"_

_"Don't worry. She is only in a siesta. Namine, you know what to do." _

_"Come here. We all have to see what happened to her before she...lost her heart."_

_**xxx**_

_"I know you don't feel any different than her, but that's what being a Nobody is partly about. Once you're born, you've lost your memories of everything that has to do with your past, including your friends, family, even your own name. Once you realize what happened before you become a Nobody, you'll probably feel the same." _

_"It hurts, doesn't it? I was that way too, when I first joined the organization. After a week or two, you'll get used to it. You won't be waking up just yet." _

_**xxx**_

_"Well, do you know what the creature is?!"_

_"Of course. They're the reason why people lose their hearts in the first place, and why only a select few become Nobodies." _

_"So...that thing that Isa described to her; it's...dangerous?"_

_"Hostile in every possible way, dear." _

_"But, how do I warn him!?" _

_"You can't. Even if I tell you now what those creatures are, your doppelganger over there can't read your thoughts; even when you're in her body, studying memories. Besides, its not like all of this is happening right now. We've told you that these are only fragments of your memories of the past. Just re-runs. You can't do anything about it but watch." _

_**xxx**_

_"It won't be too long before the Heartless becomes a real threat to your people." _

_"It already has. Renée's hurt, isn't she?" _

_"Well in your level of words, how much does 'hurt' hurt?"_

_**xxx**_

_"Well there you go then. If you keep watching what goes on, your questions will be answered. We've been through the same thing, so we would know. You have a scent of such innocence and weakness, and a newborn nobody. But out of all of the history that I've learned about nobodies, you're the most questionable newborn I have seen." _

_"Is that bad?" _

_"Well I'm not saying its good, but its not that it's bad either. See, that's what's so intriguing about you." _

_**xxx**_

_"We heard. I called your house phone earlier and your dad said that you were asleep. We didn't want to bother you, but now we have to take action." _

_"What action?" _

_"We're going to see Ansem The Wise. Right now." _

_"Wait, right now!? I didn't know that we were ALL in this!" _

_"Well, duh. We all want Renee back and we all want to know what that creature was that attacked her hard enough to knock her into a coma." _

_"But the laboratory is so far away! Couldn't we have picked sometime early during the day?"_

_"Aren't you anxious to know more about those things that are lurking around as we speak? If you won't go, we won't." _

_**xxx**_

"_I don't mean the city. I meant this world. Your friends aren't here. Perhaps you can look for them elsewhere besides this place." _

"_What do you mean 'leave the world'?" _

"_Your friends are no place in the world right now. Your other friend is in a fatal coma, your lover has lost his heart, and your parents will take extreme measures on how to punish you for what you did if they find you." _

"_Huh?! Wait a minute - you mean Isa? How did he lose his heart?!" _

"_The Heartless found him as a threat them and you. As much as you might have loved him dearly, they could feel the darkness in his heart, and took it all away. You should be thanking them."_

"_How do you know all of this…?"  
_

"_I can see your past, and your future. Neither of them are pretty to look forward to. You're only left with no choice." _

"_What choice is that?" Era asked, not really wondering what the answer is._

"_The reason the Heartless are following you. They're offering to return you to your friends, a better family, and your real love, but it is a big sacrifice. The crevice along the station you all left from. There is nothing but darkness there. A home to Heartless if nowhere else. All you need to do is give them what they came here for." _

_**xxx**_

_"Organization XIII has a mission. Collect the most hearts so that we may one day we could no longer just be empty shells. As much as we appreciate the abilities we have now, we also want to be real people again. To have hearts. If there's anything we want, it's that."_

_"There is a boy, who holds the key to our existence, that we need in order to restore Kingdom Hearts the way we desire it to be. He was meant to destroy the Heartless, and for every heartless destroyed, a heart joins within Kingdom Hearts. Its our only hope for becoming whole." _

_"His name is Sora. He's not much of an impression to me, but he still is useful to us, which is why we must get a hold of him and his...'keyblade'. He's known as the keyblade master."_

_"No need to worry, Rexa. He's a long way off from here, so we have all the time right now to prepare and teach you how to be a full-fledged Nobody before you meet him in person." _

_"Now Rexa, come. Its time for you to prepare before the arrival of the Keyblade Master." _

* * *

**PART TWO:**

**KEY OF GUIDANCE**

In a room that Rexa had found on her own, she stood wordless as she stared outside the window. It was evening, and the castle appeared more inexplicable in the darkness as did the road that led to it; which she could barely see. The dark made the room she was in seem very bright, but the entire castle was this type of white hue. The flashback that she had dreamed of earlier still seemed to buzz in her head, and it wouldn't let her be. Her original form was obviously tricked by some sort of fake being, and she wondered what the town's condition was at the moment, and if her friends ever came back. Sighing as she pushed some of her streaked blonde hair back, she walked over to a different corner away from the window, more focused on actually wanting to be back at her old home than stay at Castle Oblivion. She even wondered if the other Nobodies would understand how she felt if she were to tell them about it. As if on cue, a swirl of shadows had begun to spin around at a far corner of the room that Rexa could see from the corner of her eye, but she didn't turn her head.

Out of the shadows stood Axel, and he casually walked towards her, as if he was expecting a conversation or an explanation of something. As he got closer, Rexa only turned her head by an inch to get a better look at him. He seemed harmless at the moment, but something deep in her told her that in the future, he might expect something from her.

"Now how come you're all by yourself?" He asked coyly. Rexa's eyes narrowed to where he stood.

"I wanted some alone to think."

"About your flashback, right? We've all been there."

A few hairs had fell in front of her face. "We didn't all share the same fate, I bet."

"That is true." Axel pointed out. "Suicide is the least cause we'd expect to result in a new Organization member. Now that makes you quite unique, doesn't it?"

"Well I wouldn't have done it on purpose if I had known that he was a fake."

"It's okay." Axel replied. "If it were me, I would be angry too." He turned around so his back would be facing her. Silence filled the room after the slight discussion. Rexa thought that a lack of a heart would mean a lack of emotions as well, but she got this feeling that Axel might have wanted her to feel comfortable in the Organization. Anyone would probably want her to be comfortable anywhere, since she was known to be the helpless one. But now that she was a Nobody, she wondered if that would change.

"So, this Sora kid; is there anything else special about him besides that he holds the 'keyblade'?"

"There is one other thing." Axel replied, turning back around and folding his arms across his chest. "There was a time when he too became a Heartless."

"Hmm." Rexa replied. "When?"

"It was in another world, called Hollow Bastion, where he went to rescue the princesses of heart. He had to give up his heart to free the last princess."

"Wait a minute." She cut off. "If he lost his heart, then how is he still coming this way? Its as I was told. When someone becomes a Heartless, they lose their minds and their feelings. They're consumed by the darkness."

"Right. But not Sora." Axel replied. "He was able to hold on to his feelings, even as a Heartless. And there was only, one other man that could do just that."

At this point, Rexa was intrigued. "He managed to get out of the stage of being a Heartless? I don't see how a regular human can do that."

"They can't. And that's the other thing that's special about Sora."

"I see."

Axel turned back around, facing Rexa with a black expression, yet she could tell that he wanted something from her. He looked like he was going to speak again, but he was cut off with swirling shadows not too far off next to him. They soon disappeared, and Vexen came walking towards the blonde newborn.

"Rexa, we need to talk to you in private."

Rexa blinked. "Who's 'we'?"

"Zexion, Lexaeus, and I. There's something we also have to discuss."

Axel glanced at Rexa, then back at Vexen slowly. "Something personal, Vexen? We all need a turn you know."

Vexen glowered at Axel's comment. "You're wrong, actually. And even if it were personal, I wouldn't force her to answer."

"Whatever. Do what you'd like, Vexen." He glanced back over to Rexa. "We can talk again later. You're going to have to start training soon anyway. Marluxia's orders."

Vexen had nearly snatched her by the wrist. "She'll be on time to start. No worries."

Rexa glanced at Axel, who only nodded when she wasn't saying anything. Before she could, the dark ribbons encircled her and Vexen. And then they vanished.

* * *

She never admitted it, but the dark room she was in earlier when she met the other three nobodies sort of gave her the chills. She figured from all of these feelings, she was still partly human, yet who knew when that would pass? The other nobodies were in their usual posture; Zexion was standing as if he was in deep thought, and Lexaeus was the same only with his arms across his chest and with a hard expression on his face. Since Vexen had disappeared again when Rexa was dropped off, she was alone with the other two, waiting patiently just like they were. For some reason it'd feel weird talking until Vexen came back. But Rexa had second thoughts about that since Zexion suddenly turned to stare, and eventually opened his mouth.

"You're past. It was really...something." He stated calmly. Lexaeus unexpectedly jumped in on the comment.

"But you seemed so naive. Who would have known you'd be that trusting to fall for a trap like that." His sharp blue eyes opened, but the rest of his features remained motionless.

"Hey now, I don't think SHE could have helped that. I myself, after watching this, am now careful about who and who not to trust."

Lexaeus closed his eyes again and turned his head the other way as if he doubted her confidence, but Zexion seemed to pity her.

"At least she knows that its two different people now." He side-stated to Lexaeus, then he glanced back over to Rexa. "What's done is done, and now that you're reborn as one of us, you can change whatever feature you'd like to."

Rexa gave back a small smile in reply. It was better than way that Lexaeus had reacted to the conversation, but she figured it was over with now. She would just have to get used to his mood. In a moment's notice, Vexen came back to the room, looking as if he was about to tell his deepest darkest secret. Now that the whole trio was around to talk, Rexa could listen in on what Vexen wanted to speak to her about. When Vexen stepped into the triangle of Nobodies, he glanced over to Zexion.

"So then, Zexion, is he still on his way here?"

"Very much so."

Vexen glanced over at Rexa as if he were waiting to see if she had a question, which she did.

"You mean Sora, right?"

"Yes, but no." Zexion replied.

"You see, Rexa," Vexen started. "There is also another person coming the way towards this castle. Marluxia and the others knew about it, but they weren't planning on telling you, since they believe you're in too much in an early stage of a Nobody to learn about- and take on both of them."

"As much as that seems like a safe idea, that seems sort of judgmental." Rexa replied, folding her arms across her chest.

"_You _don't even know what you're capable of doing as a Nobody yet, so technically, it's a safe idea. Though Vexen wants to make an exception." Lexaeus cut in, glancing over at Vexen. He scoffed in reply, but kept his calm otherwise.

"We're not sure who this person is yet. We have Zexion working on finding out who it is right now, but we wanted you to know about this as well, since this probably won't be the first thing Marluxia's going to hide from you."

Rexa raised an eyebrow and glanced at the other two Nobodies. They were in their same position still after what Vexen had said. Zexion actually did turn his head to the side away from her stare, making her realize that none of them were objecting to what Vexen stated.

"You don't really think Marluxia's going to lie to me, is he?"

There was still silence in reply, so Rexa dreadfully found out the answer on her own. But she had just arrived at Castle Oblivion, so she would have to find out a little by herself.

"We're know that you'll be with the other members of the Organization most of the time, Rexa," Zexion said, breaking the silence. "...But you will actually have to check in with us as much as you do with Axel, Larxene, and Marluxia. It's important that you know the majority details of whatever the others get you involved in."

Rexa had noticed that Zexion seemed to be the most knowledgeable in the Castle, next to Vexen. She glanced over at Lexaeus, who had met her stare unexpectedly, and slightly turned his head the other way to avoid her gaze. Sighing after nothing was said, Rexa wasn't sure if he was speaking for everyone after he opened his lips.

"You have our trust."

Despite the remarks that Lexaeus was giving to her, his last pair of words was comforting her. A few seconds had past and before she even noticed, Axel had appeared in the room, eyeing her the very moment the last spark of darkness flew away.

"Rexa, Marluxia is expecting you right about now."

"I see." Rexa replied, glancing over to the other three Nobodies. She noticed that Zexion had glanced over at Vexen as if he needed approval for something. Vexen nodded in reply, and then Zexion slowly turned his head back towards the female.

"We'll be right here if you need us. You focus on yourself now, Rexa."

She nodded her head in reply before she suddenly felt Axel's arm snake around her waist to pull her close for departure. "See you later." He said to the others before they disappeared into the void, transporting to wherever it would take them. The moment the two were gone, there seemed to be doubt filling the room.

"I wouldn't trust her being alone with any of those three, mainly Axel." The built nobody stated suddenly. It was as if all the previous worries Zexion had were suddenly gathering up again, since he glanced over at Lexaeus with a suspicious yet worried look. Vexen had spoke before he had the chance to.

"Now now, you two need to stop worrying." He brought a finger to his chin, letting it rest on the surface lightly. "Just because she's new doesn't mean she's dumb. I think she can handle herself mentally on her own for now."

* * *

Her vision had cleared by the time she felt her feet on the floor and re-opened her eyes. She knew that she wasn't in the same place as when she first arrived in the Castle, but where she appeared was greatly similar. It was a long hallway of a sort, but a small door was at the end of it. Marluxia stood in front of the door as if he were a guard, but Rexa knew he was expecting her.

"Are you nervous?" A voice in her ear said out of nowhere. She gasped a little, forgetting that Axel was with her. Turning her head around, the redhead had grinned at her as if nothing could possibly go wrong.

"Somewhat I am, yes." She replied.

"Don't be. Any hint of doubt can raise the chance of your downfall." Axel said as if it were a warning. Either way, it didn't make her any more concerned about what could possibly happen next. As if he knew what she was thinking, he chuckled slightly. "Be a good girl now." And then he vanished. After that, she immediately began to walk towards the other end of the hall where Marluxia stood, waiting for her. It seemed like each step she took, the more she wondered how long it would take in all senses to grow up as a Nobody. Being a newborn seemed to put her down earlier, but it was almost as if she was just about to take the road to a growth-spurt. As her heeled boots clanked against the tile floor, she hadn't realized that she was walking fast, since she was about five feet away from Marluxia now. After she was close to three feet, she slowed down to a stop.

"Are you ready for this?" Marluxia asked incase she would think twice, but her mind was made up.

"Yes." Rexa replied. Marluxia had took a step to the side to reveal the white door behind him. It seemed like an ordinary door, but even she could feel a strange draft pass through her face, and she knew something big was awaiting her through that door.

"Step through." Marluxia said. She glanced over at him and then at the door, soon after walking towards it. When she placed her hands on both of the handles, she felt as if something was flowing through her. She figured that was just the start of what would happen. After she took a deep breath, she opened the doors roughly. Rexa was instantly sucked in without warning. It was similar to the portal that she and someone else would use to go to one place to another. This was similar, but at the same time a lot different. It was as if she was in a dark dimension of sorts, and the pull was intense, so she had no idea on where she would land once she's gone through this. She figured it would be a rough ride, and she would have to hold onto herself physically and mentally to make it through the whole mission. As she let the dark current pull her, she almost heard a voice in her head. She instantly remembered what it was and what it meant for her now.

_"It's about time you realize who you really are." _


	13. Mingling Worlds

_"So, this Sora kid; is there anything else special about him besides that he holds the 'keyblade'?" _

_"There is one other thing. There was a time when he too became a Heartless." _

_"Hmm. When?"_

_"It was in another world, called Hollow Bastion, where he went to rescue the princesses of heart. He had to give up his heart to free the last princess." _

_"Wait a minute. If he lost his heart, then how is he still coming this way? It's as I was told. When someone becomes a Heartless, they lose their minds and their feelings. They're consumed by the darkness." _

_"Right. But not Sora. He was able to hold on to his feelings, even as a Heartless. And there was only, one other man that could do just that." _

_"He managed to get out of the stage of being a Heartless? I don't see how a regular human can do that." _

_"They can't. And that's the other thing that's special about Sora." _

_"I see."_

_**xxx**_

_"You see, Rexa, there is also another person coming the way towards this castle. Marluxia and the others knew about it, but they weren't planning on telling you, since they believe you're in too much in an early stage of a Nobody to learn about- and take on both of them." _

_"As much as that seems like a safe idea, that seems sort of judgmental." _

_"We're not sure who this person is yet. We have Zexion working on finding out who it is right now, but we wanted you to know about this as well, since this probably won't be the first thing Marluxia's going to hide from you." _

_"You don't really think Marluxia's going to lie to me, is he?" _

_**xxx**_

_"Are you nervous?"_

_"Somewhat I am, yes." _

_"Don't be. Any hint of doubt can increase your chance of downfall."_

_"Are you ready for this?" _

_"Yes." _

_"Step through." _

* * *

The darkness cleared and Rexa could see all of her surroundings. It was no flashback however, this place was real. She figured it was ruins, or just a very bleak looking version of her home. She recognized everything from the hilltop where she stood; the same spot she -rather Era- landed when she went through the flashback slumber. Everything seemed beat down by something. Either this town has been abandoned for a long time, or the Heartless really did overrun her home. Everything that was going to happen all had to do with finding her inner strength. Feeling as if she's taken a good look around the scenery, she began to walk downhill towards the town, mainly her house. As much as she felt alone, she knew that she was being kept an eye on by the organization, probably not just the members in Castle Oblivion, by everybody. The distant gusts blew a very musty smell into the atmosphere, and Rexa remembered how the town seemed a lot cleaner till now. But she did question how Heartless managed to wreak havoc in the town. As much damage they could cause to a regular human, they couldn't be that powerful enough to break down the whole town; At least she thought.

She had reached the streets and things looked even worse from within the town as she walked along the sidewalk towards her house. It became half a forest, as a couple of trees had apparently sprouted and wrapped themselves around various buildings. Vines and weeds spread around out of cracks and looped around whatever object they touched. Rexa figured from the start that there weren't any people here anymore, but something else was missing. Animals. There wasn't any sign of wild life anywhere as well. No birds in the air, no bugs crawling on the dirt or grass, no stray cats or pet-like creatures, nothing at all. The only existing lives around here were the plants and the blonde cloaked Nobody. But then Rexa just realized out of thought, was this place what the town looked like this very moment, or was it an illusion just to help her train? She probably wouldn't find out till the end.

After walking a long way from the hill to the very front of her house, she stood still with other thoughts in her head. She wondered where her parents were or if they were even still alive. The same questions reflected on Renee, in which she never found out if she woke up from her coma yet, and if so, where was she now. So many questions, yet sadly no one was around to answer them for her. Hopefully this was all just an illusion and her hometown was still in good shape, as well as everyone else. Rexa reached her hand out to towards the door to turn the doorknob. The only thing wrong was, her hand went right through it, as if it were a hologram. So this place is just a replica. She could walk right through this door. And she did. Her house in the inside didn't look too beat up, but it did look like it hasn't been touched in a while, and there were cobwebs everywhere. Some random items did fuzz up a bit for a sign that everything in this place was fake, so Rexa committed it to memory. Upstairs was the first thing that came to mind after that. Instead of taking her time, Rexa found herself actually running towards the stairs, and then going up them as if something urgent came up. When her foot touched the last stair leading to the second floor, she glanced at the door to her room. It wasn't closed completely, but it was open by an inch or two, leaving a gap to look through. But something was very strange. It looked like little shadows and swirls of darkness seemed to slip through the gap and evaporate in the open air outside her room. It left a very dark aura surrounding the door, and Rexa could tell that something in there most likely isn't an illusion.

"You know I don't like surprises." Rexa said as if she were talking to someone ahead of her. Stepping in front of the door, the feeling of an unknown force became larger as she placed her hand calmly on the knob. She gave a few more seconds to take a deep breath, and then she yanked the door right open. Inside, her room looked trashed up, and there were a certain number of Heartless roaming around aimlessly on her floor; at least until they noticed that she was standing there watching them in surprise. The obvious yet funny thing was that she didn't feel as frightened as Era did when she faced the Heartless for the first time. This was a been-there-done-that feeling, only Rexa wasn't sure what would happen next. She saw one of the smaller Heartless meet her gaze, and she saw that deep down, the creature somehow knew she was its enemy.

Just as the blonde Nobody has predicted, the Heartless lashed out; and as if it were a reflex, Rexa jumped high above the attacker at a perfect timing before she could get hit. The attacker was caught off guard, but she was right in front of the other roaming Heartless; five others to be exact. Now how would she attack? She would at least have some weapon of a sort. As if it were a sign, a sudden light headedness swept through Rexa's head, but it felt more like someone was trying to reach out to her. After a few more seconds of waiting anxiously, the distant voice finally reached her clearly.

_When desperate times call for desperate measures_

_Reach into yourself to find your inner strength_

_And act with vim and vigor_

After that, Rexa didn't know if something was controlling her, or if she really was acting out on her own as if she knew what she was doing. Reaching her hand out, she turned her attention towards the Heartless that was eyeing her suspiciously. Deep down, Rexa had no idea what was about to happen, but then a flash appeared before her eyes, and light ribbons that eventually turned dark encircled her hand, and eventually wrapped around her body. As much as if looked strange, the feeling around her eventually coursed through her skin, and it felt comforting. She didn't know if it was just her, or if it was something all Nobodies shared in common. She closed her eyes, and before she knew it, she felt something solid in her grasp and pressing around her coat like a snake. Opening her eyes again, she watched in awe as she noticed she was holding what looked like a well designed chain whip in her hand. It was silver and light blue colored, and looked deadly as it was wrapped around her figure. At the end of the chain was what looked like the point of a dagger or something similar to a blade. She noticed the art on the handle of the chain whip was of the Nobody's symbol, but overlapping it was a purple line art of a small rose. The whole weapon itself had a toxic look to it, but Rexa thought it was very fitting. It was as if time froze and started all over again, since she had forgotten that the Heartless were still around, making her prone to being attacked while she was caught off guard. Despite that she was nearly surrounded by the enemy, she was still in awe of her weapon of choice.

"No way…" She heard herself say. Her attention was instantly brought back on the Heartless, whose focus seemed to harden on her as another was about to jump for another hit. Rexa acted quickly, swiftly raising the chain whip from around her waist to out in the open, and immediately shot it towards the attacking Heartless. The sharp edge stabbed right through the fiend's puny body, and it vanished into nothingness. Rexa realized that this would be easier than she expected, but her room was much too cramped to hold in her and the Heartless in a battle. She did the one thing she thought she would never do; She jumped right through the glass window that was beside her bed. She knew it would be a hard landing, since her room was on the second floor. But it was like another discovered Nobody reflex triggered, and Rexa put her feet down with the toe of her boots pointing down for a more easeful landing. The impact itself wasn't any worse than jumping from a couch to the floor, and Rexa was amazed in what she was capable of doing so far.

Just as she predicted, the Heartless either jumped out the window behind her, or teleported from her room to any spot around her. Luckily, the brawl would be in a more open space, so she was perfectly fine with dealing with the buggers. The chain whip gleamed from the hit of a little sunlight against the silver edges, and the feeling was just as nerve tingling as if she drew a sword slowly out of its sheathe. Just as she did in her room, she threw her arm out with the whip in her hand, threatening to cause major bloodlust.

"You're all finished."

* * *

"How is she progressing?" Lexaeus asked Zexion. The silver haired Nobody put his index finger on his temples, concentrating hard as the other two Nobodies waited for anything else to occur. Despite that the other members couldn't, Zexion could actually go into Rexa's mind so he could see what she was doing and where she was. What she didn't know was that what she has learned from her training would be put to the test later on.

"So far, she has encountered a horde of Heartless, but she has discovered a part of her strength."

"And how is the battle between her and the Heartless?" Vexen asked immediately.

Zexion's finger lowered to the bottom of his chin, and he smiled weakly. "So far, it's doing fine. She's discovered her chosen weapon, so for now, the Heartless are no match for her."

"And that's what's strange." Lexaeus replied. "A newborn like her doesn't get the first of her powers that quickly and easily. Something or someone must be guiding her or searching her hidden powers for her."

"As far as I know, no one else is around, and there's nothing going through Rexa's head right now except to destroy her enemy. I can still stay with her though, in case something does go through her head later."

"Do that." Lexaeus replied.

The three weren't expecting anyone else to go into the room at the time, but an unexpected visitor vortexed into the room, the other Nobodies' attention immediately pointed at whoever it was. To their surprise, out of all people, it was Larxene who appeared in the center of the room. She smiled coyly as if she were expecting answers to whatever question she had; if she had one. Walking closer to the other three Nobodies, she placed her gloved hands on her hips as she spoke.

"Well, spying on new girl, are you?" She asked as if she caught them doing something very wrong. Her attention was mainly on Zexion, who was doing all the 'spying'.

"What's it to you?" Vexen asked scornfully.

"Nothing against her, really." Larxene replied. "But I just don't see what's so fascinating about her. I remember when I was a newborn, and I wasn't given nearly as much attention than hers. It was also the same for you all. What makes her so special?"

Zexion let his arms fall to his waist. "We know that she became a Nobody because she committed suicide as her former self. Not only that, but she had a connection with Xehanort's Heartless without realizing it. She knew about Ansem, the Heartless, and everything else all before she sacrificed herself, unaware that she saved no one. You should know all of this since you watched her past along with the rest of us."

"Hmm, well I'm pretty sure you went through worst. Considering that all three of you were Ansem's apprentices."

"Yes." Vexen cut in. "If she had looked further into that mansion, she wouldn't have discovered just Xehanort's portrait, but our old biographies as well."

"But she didn't. What now?"

"We don't exactly know about her power yet. But I have a feeling it's quite dark." Zexion said. Larxene rolled her eyes to another part of the room like she was getting irritated with the conversation now.

"All of our powers are. We ALL reside in the side of darkness, _all _Nobodies. You act as if she's the only one."

"You're one to brag." Vexen said, getting aggravated himself.

"Be quiet. All of you." Lexaeus said boldly. Everyone did and glanced over at the built Nobody as if he spoke for the first time ever. "Nobodies don't have the heart to trust or to believe everyone. Larxene is no pushover, since we all have our opinions on this newborn. But we're not going to shame the Organization and fight over it." Everyone was put to silence after that, but it was a possibility that they all heard Larxene mumble something coarse. "Larxene. Enough. I think it's time you leave us to do our work."

The blonde scoffed. "Whatever. You three enjoy each other. I have better things to attend to." She turned around and waved her hand goodbye before being enveloped by darkness and then disappearing elsewhere.

"She is truly a nuisance." Vexen said after she was gone. "But actions speak louder than words, I can prove her wrong about whatever she thinks of Rexa."

The tactician glanced at Vexen, a little concerned. "Vexen. You're not going to-"

"Zexion, I'm a scientist. Of course I'm going to conduct an experiment."

"I don't know what you're going to do." Zexion replied. "But do be careful. She was just 'born', you know. If anything goes wrong at the stage she's in, the results could be fatal."

"Of course I will be careful." Vexen smirked. "My experiments never fail to satisfy. I can assure you that you'll be quite fond of what I can come up with."

* * *

Rexa let out a sigh of relief as she turned around the face her house. As much as the fight with the Heartless seemed easy, it was still exhausting. It was actually no surprise that they were all found in her room. She would have to go through the whole house again to get back and look around her bedroom. But she didn't want to. She noticed that there was an easier way. Her bedroom window was on the side of the house, as well as the storage hut, which was small enough to jump onto yet big enough to give her a boost to her bedroom window. Since she broke through it, there would be no hassle in getting it open. Putting her plan into action, she jumped high to reach the ledge of the roof of the hut and pulled herself up. The hut wasn't too sturdy, so it was okay to walk on top of it. Walking to the edge of the hut towards the side of the house, she looked up to see that she would have to use a little bit of a bigger jump to reach the window, but she figured it wouldn't too much of a problem. Hunching down and placing her fingers against the gutter lining, she gave herself a large boost to start the jump off, and while she was in the air, she grabbed the edges of the window once she was leveled properly. Immediately pulling herself inside, she stumbled a little bit on her landing, but managed to get back in her room.

She wondered if looking around her room had anything to do with the next stage of training, since finding her weapon was one thing, but there had to be more to this simulation. She looked over at her cabinet, which had been left open from where she last checked, but nothing looked suspicious about it. Then she glanced over at her mirror and noticed something she wasn't expecting. There was a reflection, but not of her; at least the mirror was half correct. In the mirror was Era, staring back at Rexa with a confused look. The mirror only half knew what she truly was. Glancing over towards her door, she realized that it was closed, but remembered how she yanked it open when she barged in her room, so she knew that she didn't close it. Something or someone else could be in the house.

Opening the door, she glanced around each corner of the hallway. Nothing, just like she felt before she went in her room earlier, she felt that something dark was still around. Walking slowly as she looked around for clues, her boots lightly patted against the maroon carpet as she past the stairway. But then she saw something in the corner of her eye, stopped walking, and glanced over down the stairs. There was another portal. She figured it led to somewhere that she was supposed to explore next, so she took the risk of possibly being sent somewhere dangerous and walked down the stairs towards the portal. Looking back slightly, she glanced at the other parts of the house before beginning to run through the portal. She felt it close behind her, and could sense that she was being taken elsewhere. Though it was not rough like the vortex she took to arrive at the place, so she knew that she wasn't heading back to Castle Oblivion. After a few seconds, things began to brighten again, and she closed her eyes so she wouldn't be blinded. When she opened them again, she was no longer in her house, but at the place where she woke up after she had lost her heart. She remembered how she sat helplessly in the dark alley of whatever town this was. This was where Xemnas met her to take her 'home'. This was probably a simulation as well, so she couldn't ask anyone any questions; No one was probably around. Walking out of the dark alley, she looked around cautiously. Nobody was around, not even the animal with the red pom-pom seemed to be around either. The town was exactly the way she saw it for the first time, just without anyone else around except for her.

And then it hit her. Something told her this part of the training had something to do with the other part of town she was going to enter before Xemnas came out and stopped her. She might have had to go in there this moment. Glancing over at the brick stairway, she made her way up the stairs and around the accessory store where she knew the entrance to the other side of town was. The area itself was dark, and the doors were huge, so she'd have to put in a whole lot of effort to get them open. But then again, she had forgotten that she was a Nobody, and the strength of a Nobody surpasses one of an average human being. Committing that fact to memory, she stepped in front of the door, and pushed it forward as hard as she could, and she managed to get it open wide enough for her to slide through. She did still question why some of the town's doors were so huge.

She then looked around. Nothing seemed to be any more unusual than the front gate of the town. The surroundings seemed to consist of buildings and construction built in a square shaped barrier, and in the center was the regular leveled ground. Facing in front of her was apparently a clock tower, but this area of the town seemed harmless; so what could have Xemnas warned her about earlier that one time? She took three steps forward towards the lower ground, her third step ended up being a scrape against the rubble from the heel of her boot, and suddenly, she realized what the superior meant. Out of nowhere, a man was running, running fast and frantically, as if he was being chased by the devil. She didn't know if this was real or fake at the moment, but chasing behind the man was what looked like a Heartless, but a different kind. The one she has seen looked like life-sized bugs, but this one was like a life-size toy soldier. It leaped towards the man in a sudden flash, and the helpless victim fell back. He gaped as if he had just lost his source of oxygen, and then his figure vanished, a heart forming in front of the fading silhouette and later on floating towards the sky. In place of what used to be the helpless man formed another soldier-like Heartless. _So that's one way of losing your Heart._ Rexa thought.

As if her thoughts echoed through everything and everyone's brain, the two Heartless turned their heads toward her. As pathetic as they looked, she did figure that they may be a bit more challenging than the smaller fry she took out earlier. But then again, there was only too, so it wouldn't be long. She stared back at the fiends expressionless, putting her hand behind her as if to hide something. Soon her chain whip shined through, the handle appearing in her grasp and the chain whip itself dangled loosely behind her.

"Don't give me that look."

* * *

"I don't think she was like us when we were newborns." Axel stated as a matter of fact. He, Marluxia, and Larxene were in the same room, Larxene appearing not too long ago to join them. She had shared her little run in with the other three Nobodies at the castle basement room, and basically came back to the other two to get their opinion. "You're not jealous, are you Larxene?"

Larxene scowled at the comment Axel made. "N- What the fuck!? Am I the only person that suspects that she's getting some kind of special treatment?!"

"No use getting worked up about it. We were all welcomed to the Organization in different ways. We don't all have to be the same."

"All we know is Nobodies will be Nobodies. She's only been here for so little time and you're already looking at the negatives about her." Marluxia said calmly. "We never looked at you with such a temper when you arrived; special treatment or not."

Larxene crossed her arms together and rolled her eyes to another direction. She figured she'd just be quiet than make herself look even more ridiculous than she probably did already.

"It doesn't matter how we're treated or not. We're all special in different ways, so you're just as important to us as Rexa or anyone else."

"Then act like it for once." Larxene replied bitterly. To her surprise, Marluxia only grinned, and then vanished before she knew it. She scoffed as if she figured that he was being rude to her, but the sudden appearance of him appearing in front of her gave away second thoughts. "What do you think you're-", that was all that she could say before he grabbed her roughly around the shoulders and pulled her face to his. Larxene's eyes widened, while Axel just stared in curiosity. She then tightly closed her eyes as if she couldn't believe what he was doing, but she did think that he took her words quite literally. She wondered if the kiss was real or something just to calm her down temporarily; either way, she began to feel comfortable with the moment. It lasted longer than she had expected, but when their lips parted, she felt a grim smile form on her lips. Marluxia opened his eyes as well and looked over to the side as if he was also speaking to Axel.

"Don't forget. We are all the same yet different at the same time. Rexa isn't any more important than any of us." He turned his head towards Larxene. "Understand?"

Larxene nodded slightly, and then chuckled, bringing her gloved pointer finger to her lips as if she was planning something devious.

_Try and top us all now, Rexa. _


	14. Innovation

_Previously on __**t h e l i f e l e s s l e e c h**__: _

_When desperate times call for desperate measures_

_Reach into yourself to find your inner strength_

_And act with vim and vigor_

_**xxx**_

"_She is truly a nuisance. But actions speak louder than words; I can prove her wrong about whatever she thinks of Rexa."_

"_Vexen. You're not going to-"_

"_Zexion, I'm a scientist. Of course I'm going to conduct an experiment."_

"_I don't know what you're going to do, but do be careful. She was just 'born', you know. If anything goes wrong at the stage she's in, the results could be fatal."_

_**xxx**_

"_Don't forget. We are all the same yet different at the same time. Rexa isn't any more important than any of us. Understand?"_

_

* * *

  
_

"This is unreal." Rexa said to herself. She was now on the top roof of the clock tower, staring up at the sky. She might have known that the entire area where she was tested in was fake, but this was no coincidence. Staring at the sky, behind distance clouds, Rexa saw a moon in the shape of a heart. As fascinating as it was, it seemed too unrealistic. She even wondered for a minute if Marluxia was playing tricks on her, but then remembered that was what this entire simulation was: a whole bunch of tricks. She didn't know why, but another flashback had popped in her head after a minute of staring at the moon. It was the moment where Era was on her bed, talking to Isa. At first, the memory was silent, but slowly Rexa could hear the voices forming clearly. It was as if she was standing right in front of them listening, sort of like how the Organization visits happened during her sleep and playback of her past. Era and Isa were talking about the moon once more, stating facts and opinions like how it would shift tides if it were shaped differently, or if moonlight would change color if the moon itself was a different color or glow. It was all a playback of their conversation, and it happened when Rexa saw the moon heart.

A chill blew past her neck and she turned around to be startled to find a figure behind her. Actually, it nearly shocked her to see Renée standing there, wide-eyed. The first thought that popped in Rexa's mind was that it was just another illusion, but at the same time she predicted that something very realistic could happen at any moment. Renée stood still, staring daggers through Rexa. She wore a usual tank top and jeans like she would wear any other day, but something about the outfit told Rexa that possibly fake Renée had a choice of words –and actions- for her. There seemed to be a halt in time, but Renée started it once more when she took a small step forward, and her hand reached for something in her back pocket.

"Why? Why, of all people, would you choose to join _them_!?" She asked bitterly. Her words slightly shocked Rexa. Could she have known that she was a part of Organization XIII now? Did she think that they were bad people? Did she think she was being forsaken? Before she knew it, the questions in Rexa's head suddenly disappeared. _This is an illusion._ She told herself. _She could still be in a coma for all I know. I can't let this imposter frighten me. _Reaching her hand out, Rexa forced most of her energy to go through her hand and to take shape of her chain whip. Grasping it, she slightly slung it behind her as if bracing herself for another attack.

"Shut up." She said quickly. Rexa would never think of hurting the real Renée, but knowing that this girl was an illusion made it so much easier to attack. Rexa leaped forward fast, striking like a cobra with the tip of her whip towards Renée's face. To her dismay, the imposter was just as fast, and grabbed the end of the whip tightly before it could touch her face. She had then pulled the whip hard towards her with an immense jerk to pull Rexa towards her. Rexa could see that in the midst of her drag forward, Renée held her arm back behind her and balled her hand in a fist, as if she would hit her the moment Rexa got close enough. Now that she knew one of her methods, she could stop it. Renée had tugged Rexa very fast, so the moment Rexa looked up at her, her fist came forward, just as the blonde Nobody predicted. With the same speed used to lash out, Rexa dodged the punch, and grabbed her wrist with one hand, the shoulder with the other. Using as much power as she could, she had shoved Renée into the roof floor, hip first. The moment the fake let her guard down, Rexa reclaimed her chain whip and brought it back over her shoulder. "You're not the real Renée. That's the worst act I've ever seen."

Imposter Renée had suddenly stopped struggling with the pain she probably felt from the shove down. In fact, she looked Rexa in the eye for a long moment with a plain face. The moment that Rexa was going to impale her with the whip was the same time she gave away a grim smile. She began talking, but to Rexa's surprise, it didn't sound like Renée anymore.

"Really? Because I thought I did a pretty good job." Said fake Renée…with Larxene's voice. Rexa's mouth went agape, and then she glared.

"_Larxene_!?"

She didn't reply. Instead, she had brought her arm out in front of her, bending it as if she was shielding herself. And then, she flailed it back out, suddenly bringing an excruciating voltage through Rexa. She cried out and then stumbled a couple of steps backwards after the shock had worn off- nearly falling, but she still felt slightly stunned, like she was very close to paralysis. She closed her eyes for a moment, waiting for her body to get loose once more so that she could move with ease. After waiting a while, she felt her joints able to move easily. She opened her eyes, and there was no longer the doppelganger of Renée standing in front of her. Instead, it was Larxene herself, smirking satisfyingly at Rexa's disbelief.

"I think those Heartless are now way too easy for you. So to work you harder, I decided to come here as your challenger." She said playfully.

"Does Marluxia know you're here?" Rexa replied, aggravated. Larxene's grin had spread a little bit.

"Of course. I can't do anything without his full permission." She tossed her head back to bring her long bangs away from her face. "You ought to be thanking me. I'm making this more of a challenge for you to make you learn more quicker."

"Don't you think that little stunt you pulled earlier was personal?!" Rexa's grip on the chain tightened, figuring that the other blonde could strike her at any moment. Larxene's calm smile and shut eyes were a hint.

"Dear, I'm full of surprises. Better get used to it." Sparking kunais flashed within her hands as she opened her eyes, and the smile became more devilish. "It's too bad that I won't go easy on you, figuring that the only thing you found was your weapon. To fight your own kind, you're going to need a lot more than that."

"I don't need your advice." Rexa replied back darkly. This time, she had waited for Larxene to attack first, since all of her other ones had backfired on her. Hopefully it'd be the other way around.

"That's too bad." Larxene chuckled, before she went flying towards Rexa ready to mercilessly attack.

* * *

"You think they're going to keep it clean?" Axel asked, staring through the image of Rexa and Larxene's combat. Marluxia scoffed.

"Not likely."

In the midst of watching the battle, the two Nobodies could hear that someone else entered. Turning, they saw Vexen appearing out of the shadows and walking towards them, arms folded across his chest.

"According to my calculations," Vexen said. "Rexa will have the upper hand in this fight." He brought his pointer finger to his chin. "And…she will have a power that will backfire eventually."

"Really?" Axel replied, turning his whole body to face Vexen. "Think you could tell us early? I'm not one for surprises, really."

"Unfortunately," Vexen started. "We're not that clear on the answers that we need just yet. Just the basics."

Marluxia's eyes slowly narrowed to the scientist. "How long will it take before your project is done so we'll know more about Rexa's abilities beforehand?"

"I'd say at least the moment Sora and his companions arrive. Since she is a newborn, I have to be very precise with the work without the need to rush."

"Whatever it takes." Marluxia replied. He then looked back at the scene of the fight, watching the girls with nearly equal strength clash with each other. He then glanced over at Namine, who was staring at the wall in front of her, her sketch pad in her lap like it always was. He then had a solution that would probably make Vexen's task a little bit shorter. Walking over to the front of where the small girl miserably sat, he got down on one knee to look at her with the same eye level. Her gaze wasn't immediately on him, but her eyes shifted once his gloved hand grabbed her by the chin to fix her gaze on him.

"We have an important task for you." He said calmly. Namine's expression didn't change. "Vexen is doing a tricky experiment with the new girl of the Organization, but he needs your help."

Both Axel and Vexen's attention got directed to where Marluxia and Namine were, watching how he was able to make her give in to his commands so easily. "We need you to dive deep into Rexa's memories and hidden abilities, and reveal to us what she will be capable of doing."

She stared at him wide-eyed in reply, but her expression softened once more; yet she managed to find her voice. "Shouldn't she be able to know as well?"

"Well, we wouldn't want to spoil the surprise, now would we?" He simply replied. Letting go of her chin, he stood back up to his height and glanced over at Vexen.

"Vexen. If you can, start it now."

Vexen smiled grimly. "As you wish."

With that last statement, Vexen vanished to another room. Axel looked at Marluxia with a raised eyebrow.

"Exactly are we going to do with this knowledge of Rexa when we get it?"

Marluxia walked back over to wear the battle scene was being shown, his eyes on Rexa. "It's all part of our plan."

That's when both of Axel's eyebrows raised when he glanced over to his new spot. "You can't seriously be planning on using her for this."

"Whatever it'll take for our plan to commence. It will be worth it."

* * *

The feeling of the material of the two weapons repelling each other when they touched seemed to push both Larxene and Rexa back a little, but it didn't slow them down. Rexa leaped up in mid-air, sending her chain whip swiftly down towards Larxene. The gaps in between some of the metal caught on hold of the claw like daggers Larxene had, making her stuck unless she let go. They both panted heavily from numerous attacks and deflects. Only a few attacks from both of them were successful yet still got them nowhere.

"Well it seems that you're not one to give up the ghost very easily." Larxene said in the midst of her heavy breathing. "We're nearly equal in strength. This fight is getting us nowhere."

"Agreed." Rexa replied, standing up from her crouching position. Larxene did the same and scoffed.

"Well, I already know what I need to know. You're still learning, so don't push your luck on beating me the next time we meet, or anyone else for that matter."

Rexa heard something creep behind her. The moment she heard it approached her in full speed was the moment she turned around and flailed her whip across it's body. It was a white and flexible creature, like the one that Era had in one of her dreams. It was out of nowhere, so Rexa decided to look ahead; and in consternation, there were more coming her way from afar. They were walking on the far ground. Some went through ways that she couldn't notice, and others actually climbed up the tower to reach her level. She got so distracted by them, she didn't realize that Larxene had left without warning. She was on her own, not that Larxene was really offering her help. She wasn't as worn out as she used to be during the fight, but she had wished that she could have gotten a little more recovery before she met her next enemies. Rexa figured that being a Nobody meant having to fight to the death if necessary.

She then looked down again and decided it would be easier to fight on lower ground. Backing up from the edge, she stepped away as far from the edge as possible, preparing for a big leap. The sound of approaching enemies from her side was getting clearer as she could hear the lower ladder creaking as something stepped on it to get higher. Rexa didn't have to wait long for the creature to the side to appear over the tower's side wall. It slid over the railing to get on the roof where Rexa stood to watch its movements. Seconds later, it darted, and so did Rexa. With speed she didn't even know she had, Rexa dashed towards the tower's edge, and jumped. On the ground below her, there were a lot more of the fiends wandering aimlessly. Some of them still climbed up the tower, unaware that she was coming towards them instead, but a sweeping strike from the chain whip against their comrades alarmed them that the blonde Nobody was now on the ground where they used to tread.

Even though it was a long drop, at least three stories, Rexa landed lightly on her feet. Holding onto her whip, she watched the predators approach her swiftly and slickly. They weren't too far away when Rexa felt like something was trying to invade her mind once more. She didn't let her guard down, but still concentrated to find out what it was. It was like words of counsel passing through her head. _You don't have to fight them all, Rexa._ It said to her nonchalantly. _You are capable of controlling their actions. Compel them. _

The first response to the words was to actually look at the fiends. She saw the symbol that looked engraved or merged within their white flesh. It was the same as the Organization's. A word seemed to flash in her head as she stared at the pale pursuers longer.

_Dusk_

That must have been what they were called. All she knew was that they had something to do with the Organization and that she had control over them. The only question in her mind then was how? She even added in another thought: I could have been a small part of her hidden powers, yet she hasn't discovered them yet. She would have to think and fight at the same time to get her answers, since the dusks were very close to her now. It didn't take much to destroy them with her chain whip, but it seemed like the number of them added up to the original point every time she vanquished any. She wondered if she could use something to lure them to believe that they were one of her kind. And then she had a plan.

She struck one more dusk through its body before leaping up into the stairway and running towards the entrance of the gate to the other half of town. Just as she had hoped, the dusks followed her instantly. To make things cleverer, she had dismissed her hold of the whip temporarily, just to make her look vulnerable until the time was right. She ran to the point of being in front of the gate, about five feet away; and like she predicted, a horde of Heartless had appeared surrounding her. Rexa instantly glanced over at the dusks pursuing her, seeing that they had stopped right behind the circle of Heartless that she was in. They would glance from one to another, before lashing out on each and every one of them, just as Rexa hoped. The Heartless were also the dusks' enemy, and seemed to be of a greater threat than she was. Once half of them were taken out, Rexa brought her chain whip back out to help out with the half of the attacking Heartless. It was quick, since she had reinforcements, at least she thought at the moment. When all of the Heartless were gone, she turned around to face the dusks, which were also staying in their place around her. Letting her weapon disappear once more, she only concentrated on one phrase as she stared at the dusks, and eventually snapped her fingers. _Retreat to the darkness whence you came. _To her surprise, the dusks did exactly what she mentally commanded, and had swiveled up to vanish into small vortexes which probably brought them to where they belonged.

There she was, alone again in the middle of a dark town, exhausted. She brushed away a few strands of hair that were sticking to her forehead before walking towards the gate where she had come out of before.

* * *

The tactician opened his eyes widely and set his hand down from his chin, letting his arms drop to his hips. Lexaeus glanced over to him to see if anything was wrong, and at the same time Vexen had vortexed into the room, a smirk on his face, but Zexion was the one who spoke.

"She actually did it. She did all the necessary actions needed to pass the second test."

Lexaeus's blue eyes averted down to the floor. "Yes…now she will have to brace herself for the final attack. You'll have to let her go on her own, Zexion."

"I know."

"We're going to be finding out more about Rexa before she herself does." Vexen suddenly cut in, walking towards the other two Nobodies.

Zexion glanced over at him. "Your experiment?"

"Precisely. Only I'm getting help from the witch herself too."

"You told Marluxia about it too, didn't you?" Lexaeus said. "Whenever he thinks deeply about something, he has to get Namine involved. I still don't see what the use of keeping her here is."

"You both know how he is." Vexen replied bitterly. "He managed to get Namine to start delving deep within Rexa to find out her hidden abilities beforehand."

"And are you planning on telling her about them once you find out?"

"No…she'll have to find out for herself." Vexen said monotonously. "She's a newborn. If she learns too quickly, her abilities may eventually backfire. She'll have to learn how to control them in gradually increasing levels so that she may be stable."

"Very true." Zexion replied with his eyes closed once more. Then he glanced slightly over to Lexaeus. "Now then, what to do?"

The built Nobody had his eyes to the ground while he thought profoundly. At the moment, there wasn't an answer that was any more palpable than what he had in mind. "Now, we wait. See what ensues."


End file.
